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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23494534">A New Mission</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaOkegom/pseuds/AnnaOkegom'>AnnaOkegom</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sean's Story [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work, Steven Universe OCs RP</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gem Fusion, Gen, Missions, it's harder than the first one--, like... i seriously have n o idea how to tag this</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 09:48:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>28,703</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23494534</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaOkegom/pseuds/AnnaOkegom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After finally being allowed to go on a mission and discover a new world, Sean McCarthy is ecstatic. And while the idea also pleases Olive, Marine can't help but be worried.<br/>It turns out that in this mission, they'll grow even closer.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Sean's Story [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1644727</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Start</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Yay! Finally after so long, I was able to get this out. I took long because I travelled a few weeks ago and I was taking some time to rest. Writing this was super fun and I can't wait to do more!<br/>Note: Sean is 13 years old here.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sean rolled on his bed, holding down shrieks of delight every time he heard a zipping sound coming from behind him. At one point, unable to control his excitement, he rolled to lie on his stomach and rested his chin on his hands to look straight at the scene.</p><p>"Are you almost done with packing all the stuff?" he asked, throwing a few giggles between words.</p><p>"No, it'll still take a while, I just started... but if you really want this, waiting won't be a problem." Marine replied, putting more gray shirts into the bag.</p><p>"Nuh-uh, it won't! I'm very patient!" Sean exclaimed, getting up and starting to jump on the bed, anxious.</p><p>Hearing the sounds, Marine turned around and gasped at the sight.</p><p>"Sean! I already asked you not to jump on your bed, especially with your shoes on!" she scolded, making him stop immediately, and approached the bed. "Look at this, it's a mess... another thing for me to fix, of course..."</p><p>"I'm sorry, Marine... I didn't mean to, I was just excited. I'll fix it!" Sean jumped out of the bed and started tidying it up again, before Marine took his arm.</p><p>"No... it's fine, I'll do it. Sean, I'm sorry..."</p><p>"It's okay, don't worry about that. I understand that you're worried... I-I'm a bit nervous too. After all, I'm going to a different planet, for the first time!" Sean said and opened his arms, trying to conceal his smile to show seriousness. "But I know everything is going to be alright! Because you and Olive are going to be there with me, and... just that fact alone already makes it good to me!"</p><p>Marine continued to stare at him with concern on her eyes before turning back to his bed and starting to tidy it up wordlessly. Sean stood still for a few seconds before kneeling next to all the luggage he was going to take; so far they were simply three metallic suitcases, too heaby for him to carry.</p><p>"What kinds of food are we going to take? We need breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert, right?" he asked.</p><p>"Food? We can't afford to take physical food! It would take too much space, plus it would be subject to spoiling or filth, which could damage your health." Marine replied matter-of-factly.</p><p>"Wha?! But... but... if we're not taking food, then... am I going to starve?!" the boy exclaimed in fear. "S-suddenly, for some reason, I-I don't like the idea of this mission, a-at all!"</p><p>"What? Of course you won't die, Sean... if you were going to die, I would have protested <em>much</em> more than I already have." Marine went back to putting spare clothes into one of the suitcases, and then took out a tube with pills. "You are getting all the nutrients and vitamins your body needs through pills and infusions."</p><p>"Oh... that sounds fun... am I going to taste it? I-I mean is there some kind of... hamburger pill or ice cream infusion?"</p><p>Marine stared at him like he had just called himself stupid.</p><p>"Of course not."</p><p>Sean let out a sigh and sat down on the ground, continuing to watch as Marine packed his things.</p><p>"What about sleeping? Is it going to be the same thing?"</p><p>"It definitely won't be the same thing... the days of planet in which we are going last 48 hours, which is about two Earth days. That means we'll have to update your sleeping schedule to match that... but you don't need to worry about that! I'll take care of anything regarding your time in there!" she replied, sounding a tad more excited.</p><p>"Okay, thanks! I'm glad that Commander Apatite decided to let me go in there... to see how a real mission is. So that maybe in the future, I can go more often... and actually take part in them." From his position, Sean saw a shiver run up Marine's body. "B-but let's not think about that now... let's think about the p-present! So, how exactly are we going there?"</p><p>"Actually, I wasn't informed of any of these details. The only thing that concerns me is your wellbeing, Sean... all I'll be doing is accompanying you."</p><p>Again, Sean moved from where he was, getting up and sitting on his bed, and started to shake his legs.</p><p>"It's... not fair." he finally said after some minutes of silence.</p><p>Marine stopped halfway through folding one of his towels to turn her face to him.</p><p>"The way they treat you isn't fair... I don't like seeing this. You were created like this and you're just like everyone else, but they still treat you like you're inferior because of it! It doesn't make sense!" Sean started, spreading his arms. "I thought this was supposed to be something for me... and you mean a lot to me. So they should have let you be more involved."</p><p>She looked down for a moment, her fingers faltering around the towel, before she placed it inside the suitcase, just as it was.</p><p>"I know... but that's just how it is, I'm sorry. I'm... just a pearl."</p><p>"That's what they think. I don't think you're '<em>just</em> a pearl'... to me, you mean so much more. And I'm sure that I also mean a lot to you... so, instead of accepting what they say, why don't you try to understand what I think?"</p><p>Marine stopped. Sean continued as still as he already was. They would probably have remained like that for long before one of them decided to say or do anything else, but before this happened the door busted open and Olive sprinted inside with a smile.</p><p>"I'm here, finally!" </p><p>"Olive!" Sean exclaimed in happiness, getting up (on the bed) and jumping; like always, she caught him in a hug and spun him around. "You came!"</p><p>"Of course I came! After all, this is hybrid boy's first mission... I wouldn't miss it for nothing!" Olive held Sean with one arm, using her other hand to ruffle his hair and then tickle his belly, making him let out lots of laughter and some light gasps. "So, now that I'm here, we're ready to leave, right?"</p><p>"Not yet... I still have to pack up some more of Sean's things. You'll have to wait just a little more." Marine replied.</p><p>"You're still doing that? You know you don't need to fold every single towel and shirt, right? I mean, we'll have to take them out later, anyway... just shove them all inside, it'll spare time." Olive sighed, putting Sean back on his bed.</p><p>"W-what? That's not how it works! You have to do it gently... this is my department, I'll deal with it."</p><p>"Sure, I'm not trying to stop you... but if the things you're doing on your department start affecting <em>my</em> department, then I think I have all the right to get involved..."</p><p>Sean jumped down from the bed, landing on his two feet on the floor, and spread his arms with one of the most serious expressions both of them had ever seen on his face. If they weren't aware of his kind nature, they could have been easily fooled and thought Sean was actually mad at them. And if he had put that face on to catch their attention, it worked, because immediately both Olive and Marine's heads turned to him.</p><p>"Guys! Don't you remember what we were talking about that day? Don't you remember... the promise you two made to me?" he said, and by the end his stern expression had washed away fully. </p><p>Marine and Olive's eyes widened in realization as they realized what he was talking about. Sean himself had memories flooding through him, and let his arms fall limp on his sides before sitting down on the ground.</p><p>***</p><p>
  <em>The noise rung through Sean's ears. He could barely make out the words Marine and Olive were saying, not that he wanted to; hearing it would make it worse. Or not. He would know they were arguing either way, and just that was enough to make his chest ache and his eyes burn with tears threatening to spill.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sean turned away from the scene, rubbing his eyes. He jumped into his bed and buried his face in his pillow, finally letting the tears run free and soak his bed sheets and face, clinging to the pillow. He didn't even notice when the ringing sounds stopped, only when he felt two hands touching his back and sat back on the bed, staring back at Marine and Olive's concerned looks.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I-is it over?" he choked out, then wiped away his tears. Marine and Olive glanced at each other, unsure of what to say. "This... can't be normal... this isn't what I wanted. All I wanted was to be able to have some time to... have fun. With you. But sometimes it seems that whenever we're all together, it ends on a fight!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"It's... not like that... not always..." Marine argued, with a blush taking over her cheeks.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"T-that's what it feels like! Ever since I remember... it was always like this! Why does it have to be like this?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Look, Sean..." Olive started and sighed. "Marine and I don't hate each other, if that's what you're thinking... it's just that we're very different, so we don't always agree."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"But everyone's different... I'm different from both of you, but we never argue!" Sean retorted, before turning his gaze to the floor. "I just... don't get it. It's always about me... is it my fault?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"It's not!" both of them shouted at the same time. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"But it has to be! Every time you guys argue, I'm the main subject... it's all just me. I don't mean to cause this, but--"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Sean... listen. Don't blame yourself over this... it's not your fault, honestly. It's just... it's just us!" Olive assured him, with her hands over each of his shoulders.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Yes! See, we can end this... y-you can go on a m-mission!" Marine choked out, ruffling his hair with her shaky hands and maintaining an equally shaky smile. "See, it's fine... we were just being stubborn..."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sean sniffed, wiping away another tear.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"But this was supposed to be a fun trip... for all three of us. If you guys are just going to keep arguing, then... there's no point on it." Sean said, with slumped shoulders, but then quickly straightened his body up, with shining eyes. "Unless... unless you do something for me!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Of course! A-anything for you!" Marine replied.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Just say it, and it'll be done!" Olive said similarly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>For the first time since the discussion had started, Sean showed them a smile.</em>
</p><p>***</p><p>"You promised me you weren't going to fight," Sean said blankly and placed his hands over his knees, toying with the fabric of his pants. "But we haven't even left yet and you're already arguing. Over something that... isn't even that important. Both of you matter much more to me than a bunch of clothes and towels and the time we're losing."</p><p>"It wasn't a fight! It was..." Olive started speaking and trailed off, looking at Marine for help.</p><p>"...a constructive argument!" Marine completed with a painfully forced smile. "We were discussing over the best way to make this excursion enjoyable for all of us!"</p><p>Sean let out a sigh and the Gems' smiles faded.</p><p>"Please... don't make excuses. I don't want to pretend it's fine... I want to see it so I can fix it." he said. "Marine is trying to help by making everything tidy... and it will take longer, but we can use this time to do something fun. We can turn a seemingly bad thing... into a good thing."</p><p>Some seconds passed and Sean wondered if he had perhaps said the wrong thing, but then he noticed Marine and Olive smiling (genuine smiles this time), and giving each other a silent nod. Then Olive approached him and extended her hand to help him up, before putting another hand on his shoulder and slowly leading him out of the room.</p><p>"I'll be taking our mission boy for a walk, then... are you going to be okay here by yourself?" she asked.</p><p>"Oh, sure! You don't need to worry... take as long as you need! A-after all, I guess I still have lots to do..." Marine replied with a chuckle in the end.</p><p>"Ha, okay! Then I'll... go with him, and... we'll get back here after we're done doing, uh, walking!"</p><p>With that, Olive pulled Sean out and closed the door, before letting out a deep sigh.</p><p>"What was that?" Sean asked, with a bright beam on his face. "You and Marine made up! I'm so glad! What I said really did work, after all!"</p><p>"It was... awkward." Olive admitted with a blush starting to show. "But I guess it was a start..."</p><p>"It was a great start! All starts are great! So... we should also start walking around! Or better... let's run around!"</p><p>With that, Sean started running away and giggling to himself, occasionally peeking behind him to see how close Olive was; and the idea of running turned out not to be what he expected, since Olive caught up to him soon. However, it was still worth it, as he continued to laugh, sitting on her shoulders.</p><p>"Yeah! This is so cool! I'm the tallest! I'm going to be this tall when I grow up!"</p><p>"Really, this tall? Wouldn't you rather be... <em>this</em> tall?" Grabbing Sean by his sides, Olive threw him up, triggering a yelp of surprise followed by more laughter by the boy; she caught him when he was falling.</p><p>"Hahaha, yes! I'll be as tall as the ceiling!"</p><p>"Ha, as tall as the ceiling? Doesn't sound very practical to me, buddy... you'd keep hitting your head every time you took a step!"</p><p>"Oh, you're right... I didn't think about that! Maybe then... I can be one centimeter shorter than the ceiling?" Sean asked curiously, making Olive laugh.</p><p>"Sounds great for a start!"</p><p>They continued strolling through the corridors of the ship. Sean made lots of stops, whether it was to look at the space outside through a window or to come inside a general working room and greet the Gems inside; but of course, it wouldn't have been half as fun if there was no dynamism to it. At least that's what Sean said as he wore the large fish the Elementals had captured to study as a hat.</p><p>After probably hours of taking a last look through the ship before leaving for their excursion, Sean and Olive were ready to go back to his room and check up on Marine, but as they made their way over there, Sean took an abrupt stop, as if he had been frozen where he stood.</p><p>"Sean?" Olive called, turning around to look at him.</p><p>The boy didn't respond, as though he were stuck on a transe. Following the place his eyes were pointing to, Olive saw a door leading to a room. A blue door.</p><p>"It's... Mom's room," Sean whispered, stepping forward to touch the door. He then turned his head to Olive, with a neutral expression, a serious thing coming from him. "I'd like to say bye before I go... can we take a little longer before going back?"</p><p>"Of course we can... take your time. It's not like Marine can complain about us taking long, anyway..." Olive replied, saying the last part only to herself.</p><p>"Okay, thank you! I promise I won't take long!"</p><p>Sean ran inside the room and closed the door. And like every other time he came inside, the room had a certain mystic aura over him, this time making him stop and ridding his mind of every thought; he no longer had a worry in the world. What mattered was the present, where he was now, the room, his mother's room. And it was beautiful. It was like each time he came inside it was different despite nothing having been changed, and each time it still managed to win him over with its natural charisma, as though it were whispering on his ear to come and discover it completely.</p><p>"H-hello, I'm back!" Sean called out, walking to the center of the room.</p><p>He did talk to himself, quite often, but it was not the same feeling of talking inside that room. He felt like he had a friend in it, someone ready to listen to him, cozy and welcoming arms of something so distant but so familiar.</p><p>"U-um, so, I have some news! It's something really good, and really unexpected... you won't believe it when I tell you!" The boy turned to the large picture of Azurite, his mother, stuck to the wall. An idea started sprouting inside his mind, and he opened the drawers of the chest under it like stairs, climbing on them until he was on the top, and grabbed the sides of the frame, lifting it then pulling it.</p><p>It was surprisingly heavier than he expected, and for a moment the boy lost his balance, with his body pending backwards with a "woooah" coming out of him. Back in control, Sean jumped back to the floor and walked towards a wall, carefully placing the paining against it and then sitting down himself with his back against the wall.</p><p>"There! Now you can be near me while I tell you everything," Sean said, getting himself as comfortable as possible, staring at his mother with shining eyes. "Uh, how do I start... well, I'm going on my first mission soon! It's not exactly a mission per se... it's more like an excursion. But what matters is that I'm finally going to be able to see what's <em>out there</em>! Beyond my room... beyond this entire ship. Outer space seems so large... maybe even infinite. And exploring a part of it, even if it is a tiny part... it makes me happy."</p><p>Sean stayed silent for a few moments, both his hands over his chest.</p><p>"I wonder if you were ever able to see much... I know you were created in Homeworld, but did you ever go outside? Like... for a mission?" Sean let out a sigh, cloing his eyes. "Hm, maybe I'll discover later..." For the first time he realized the room had a warmness to it, something that made him trust it; even at his most vulnerable moments, it would be there to comfort him.</p><p>A yawn escaped Sean's mouth. With his eyes still closed, he began to trace the borders of the frame by his side with the tip of his finger, feeling as it became weaker and weaker every moment, but in such a good way; when he realized, his hand was limp on the floor. It was cozy and warm, and that was Sean's last thought before falling asleep.</p><p>***</p><p>
  <em>He was so, so excited, that he could barely even pay attention to the corridors in which he was walking, like he always did. All he could do was catch glimpses of the windows leading to the space outside as he skipped along the long hall. Nothing else mattered, none of those things; they were fun, but trivial, he had to admit, and he couldn't always live out of them. It was what he had been telling himself every day: this kind of thing was supposed to be nothing more than a distraction, not things he should actually worry about. Maturity, that was the name.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And now, what really mattered was that he was going to ask the Commanders the question that had been lingering on his mind for so long. Everything he had dreamed of for so long; just the mere thought of it was enough to make him giggle like crazy and want to jump and run around. But he controlled himself to appeal to them, letting only a blush take over. A Gem passed by him, seemingly in a rush, without paying attention to him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>That made him decide to stop thinking about it and actually act on it, and in response, he straightened up, put a smile on his face and continued to march forwards. Not long after, he felt something bumping against his back, pushing him forward slightly and making him let out a tiny shriek; and turning his body to the side, he was met with the sight of a pearl kneeled on the floor, frantically and desperately picking up fallen objects from the floor. Her rush turned out to be more harmful than beneficial, as the stacked objects slipped and fell back to the floor.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I am s-so s-sorry," the pearl cried out, her voice and entire body shaking. "I-I was in a h-hurry, and I didn't see, I didn't t-think... I-I know this doesn't e-excuse it, but I b-beg you to forgive this incompetent, inexpert pearl--"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"It's alright." he replied. He wasn't mad at the poor Gem or anything. "Just, next time, be a bit more careful, okay</em>
  <em>? Calm down... you know what, let me pick those up for you. There's no way you'll be done with picking up all these if you're so nervous... at least not in less than a thousand years!" He let out a chuckle.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>After picking everything up and handing it back to the pearl, she made a respectful bow and he heard a low "thank you", before she left, making a turn on the nearest corridor to the left. He simply continued his quest, walking, and meeting no complications for the rest of the way. There it was, the door was right in front of him. He took a deep breath and then let it out in the form of a sigh.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"You can do this," he reassured himself, as he had done so countless times before. "All I need is to..."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He put his hand on the detector and pushed the door.</em>
</p><p>***</p><p>"Hey, Sean? Are you with me?"</p><p>Sean opened his eyes slowly, regaining consciousness. A figure appeared in front of him: Olive.</p><p>"Uuhh...? Olive? What... what happened?" Sean looked around, confused. "Mom's room? But I was... wasn't I in the corridors? No, I... I was definitely here, but..."</p><p>"What? You're not really... making any sense. What's wrong?"</p><p>Sean scanned the room once more, before shaking his head and looking back at Olive with a smile.</p><p>"I-it's nothing! I just had a dream, and I was confused... w-wow, for how long was I asleep?" he asked.</p><p>"Don't worry, just a few minutes. You were taking long, so I decided to check and make sure you were fine here... and I found you right here, sleeping and drooling!"</p><p>"Oh... I just felt tired so I ended up falling asleep." He noticed the picture by his side, just like it had been when he left it. "And I also took this out of the wall... better put it back."</p><p>"Alright, I'll put it back on its place, then."</p><p>After grabbing the frame, Olive hung it back on the wall, where it was. Sean stared at it and smiled, before getting up from the floor.</p><p>"Okay, we should get going now, huh? I think Marine is probably done at this point, and I don't want to leave anyone waiting."</p><p>"Sure. C'mon, let's go."</p><p>The trip back to his room was surprisingly short, or at least it felt short, probably because they spent the whole time chatting and joking around with each other. When they got to the door and opened it, Sean came inside to find Marine sitting on his bed, looking down with a calm expression, and in front of her, many locked suitcases.</p><p>"Hey, Marine, we're back! What have you been up to?" Sean said, approaching her.</p><p>"Oh! Sean, Olive... I finished packing everything up. I was just waiting for you two to come back..." she replied, straightening up to look at them. </p><p>"We're ready! Let's go, everyone!" Sean announced proudly, lifting his fist with a beam, and grabbed the handle of one of the suitcases; even when using his full strength he couldn't make it move, maybe just a tiny bit. But he still continued to pull, all while grunting in hopes that it'd make the job easier.</p><p>"Are you sure you don't need any help over there, buddy?" Olive asked awkwardly, unsure if she should laugh or not.</p><p>"Nuh-uh! I-I've got it... I just need to... try a bit m-more!"</p><p>"I think it'd be better... if you let us carry that, Sean." Marine suggested, grabbing one of the suitcases and lifting it, albeit with effort, while Olive grabbed all the rest without showing any discomfort.</p><p>"O-okay, if that's fine! We should... get going now, then."</p><p>Sean opened the door and all of them left the room. For the next minutes, they walked through the many sets of corridors until they finally reached a room.</p><p>"Is this where we're going to take the ship and go there?" Sean asked.</p><p>"No, not yet... the other members of the mission are here. We'll meet up with them and make sure everything is all set... and then we're going." Olive explained.</p><p>"Oh, okay! That's nice... I like meeting new people. I hope we can get along!" </p><p>Despite everything, he was nervous. Nervous and at the same time excited. With the biggest smile he could muster, Sean held Olive and Marine's hands.</p><p>"Okay, I'm ready! Let's go inside!"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Take Off</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sean and his family board their new aventure together.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Woah, look at this! I'm actualy posting chapters quickly... but please, don't expect this behavior of me XD sometimes I can take long but I'm constantly working in this story :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Marching inside the room with the confidence of an entire army, Sean kept his head raised and his eyes closed, trying to mimic seriousness and elegance, with Marine and Olive following behind him. As he got in the center of the room, Sean stood still with his arms on his sides and opened his eyes to look at the Gems in front of him; at first he only caught three of them, three almost identical petalites staring at him, but he saw the blur of another one on the left side of his vision. He couldn't identify the Gem type of the other; she was leaning against the wall with her foot pressed against it, eyes closed in a frown, and she had yellowish skin with long, messy brown hair and the usual silver outfit all Elementals wore. Sean assumed she was some kind of fighter, based on her tall and muscular figure.</p><p>"Greetings, my fellow... uh, mission partners! I'm Sean McCarthy, and I, Marine, and Olive are going to be joining your mission, as you've probably already been told!" Sean blurted out with a friendly smile, after bowing to them in respect. The speech had been all improvised on the spot, and Sean was surprised he was able to avoid stammering or not knowing what to say.</p><p>"So, if they're here, than can we already mark everything as done and get on with it?" one of the petalites, with her gem on her chest, asked the others, with a hint of irritation on her voice. Sean just stood on his place awkwardly, the smile on his face beginning to hurt after so long.</p><p>"Sure, sure, I'll mark everything, alright..." another one, who had her gem on her right leg replied while rolling her eyes and started touching the screen of a tablet she was holding, but its back was turned to Sean so he couldn't see what she was doing.</p><p>The boy looked at Marine and Olive; the former gave him a nervous, forced smile, while the latter shrugged. Sean then turned back to the three petalites and approached them.</p><p>"Hey, can I take a look at that?" he said, with curiosity on his voice. But the question was actually pointless, as he was already right behind the one with the tablet, and was able to peek and see what was on the screen.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Mission #35983 Records</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Members</em>
</p><p>
  <span class="u">Priority</span>
</p><ul>
<li>Sean McCarthy - VIP. Only human-Gem hybrid ever produced by the Elementals, thus must be protected at all costs. (✓)</li>
</ul><p>
  <span class="u">Additional</span>
</p><ul>
<li>Petalite Facet 5RL Cut 6NE (✓) - Scientist, technician and pilot.</li>
<li>Petalite Facet 4PY Cut 9XE (✓) - Scientist, technician and pilot.</li>
<li>Petalite Facet 7YX Cut 1UA (✓) - Scientist, technician and pilot.</li>
<li>Tiger's Eye Facet 8D6X Cut 7YU (✓) - Bodyguard who will ensure the safety of the members.</li>
<li>Agate + Pearl (✓) - Caretakers of Sean McCarthy. Not VIP, but as they are accompanying him to tend to his needs and are emotionally important to him, their safety is second priority.</li>
</ul><hr/><p>Sean blinked, still staring at the records.</p><p>"W-woah, I'm priority? What does VIP mean?" he asked aloud.</p><p>"VIP stands 'for very important person'." the petalite with her gem on the palm of her left hand answered him.</p><p>"Wow, looks like I'm a big deal then, huh?"</p><p>Taking another look at the records, Sean's eyes stopped on the only name he didn't recognize: Tiger's Eye. He glanced at the Gem he didn't know to see she was in the same position as before, not having moved an inch, and assumed that's what she was.</p><p>"Anyway, since I assume we're all done here, can't we just go already?" Olive suggested,  tapping her foot on the ground impatiently.</p><p>"Suuuure," the leg gem petalite replied with another eye roll and then a small sigh as she continued to tap on the screen, so fast that Sean couldn't even process what she was doing. "Let me just finish this."</p><p>A few seconds later she was done and, with one hand on the top and another on the bottom of the tablet, she compressed it and it disappeared right there, making Sean let out a gasp of surprise.</p><p>"Alright. Since everything is done... we should just go and take our ship to start this mission already." the chest gem petalite announced, already heading towards the door.</p><p>The other two petalites followed, wordlessly, and picking up again the luggage she had put down, Olive went with them. Sean looked at the other Gem from the mission, Tiger's Eye, and had just opened his mouth to tell her they were leaving, but in the blink of an eye, she was no longer there; he blinked once again, to make sure his eyes weren't following him, and almost let out a shriek when he noticed her walking by his left side, <em>slowly</em>. Marine, who was right there, quickly stepped aside, towards Sean, and placed her hands on his shoulders, pulling him closer and making his back touch her chest.</p><p>When Tiger's Eye was finally out of the room, Sean realized he had been holding his breath, and his hands were also a bit sweaty. What was going on? Probably shock, or maybe excitement since he was about to leave the ship. Yes, surely it was just that.</p><p>"Hey, are you two coming, or...?" Olive called out to them, standing in front of the door.</p><p>"Y-yeah, w-we're coming!" Sean responded, and turned to Marine to grab her hand and lead her outside.</p><p>Both of them caught up to Olive and started walking faster than usual, trying to catch up with the rest of the team now, who didn't bother to wait for them. The way to the room with all the ships dedicated for any external mission was silent, almost uneasy, but when they got there, the first sound they heard was a "Oooooooh!" coming from Sean.</p><p>"Guys! Look at all those ships!" he yelled, letting go of Marine's hand to run around and take a closer look at all the humongous, stylish ships around. "Look at this one! It has such a cool painting, and these turbines are so large, I can walk through them!" Sean was in fact about to enter one of the red ship's turbines through its whole, which was taller than him, before Marine walked over to him and pulled him by his shoulder.</p><p>"Sean, don't! You'll end up getting hurt... these things must be full of spiky or hot parts! It's dangerous for you!" she scolded.</p><p>Sean then noticed that the hand gem petalite had her head turned to them, and as she watched Marine dragging him away from the ship, he could see her trying to force a smile away; but just as their eyes locked, she let out a snicker which she quickly smothered with her hand, making it sound like a choked cough. Without hesitating, Sean shot her a broad smile, but she turned away before he could see her reaction.</p><p>Ahead of them, the rest of the group stopped in front of another ship; when Sean, Marine and Olive got to where they were, Sean realized what Marine had meant by saying that taking food would take too much space. The ship wasn't  enough to make them feel <em>cramped</em>, of course, but it really was only enough for a simple exploration mission.</p><p>"Oh, I like this one! It looks cool too. I like the yellow and green painting, these are really pretty colors!" the boy exclaimed, looking at the sides and back of the ship. "So, how do we come in?"</p><p>"There must be a gem identification device somewhere around..." the hand gem petalite remarked, also looking around.</p><p>"Gem identification device?" Sean repeated, confused, until he noticed a hand detector. "Oh, you must mean a detector!" Placing his hand on the detector, Sean jumped out of its way as part of the ship came down, turning into a ramp leading from the floor to the newly-open hole on it. "W-wow... I really opened it..."</p><p>"Good job, Sean! Now let's put all of this inside!" Olive said and headed inside the ship, and then all Sean heard was a bunch of loud sounds of heavy things being thrown.</p><p>"<em>Olive</em>! Be careful with this stuff, please, there are breakable things in there!" Marine screamed with worry, sprinting inside the ship with a speed that made Sean stumble backwards.</p><p>"Ah, there they go, getting all the little space we left... they want us to do our work properly, but how can we take samples of that planet if we don't have any place to storage them? We could use bubbles, but we'd send them to the other side of the galaxy, I don't know where..." Sean heard the chest gem petalite mumbling as she hopped into the ship.</p><p>After everyone had already entered, Sean himself came in, and then put his hand on the detector again, closing the door. Looking to the front of the ship, he noticed the three petalites were sitting on three large chairs on the cockpit, pressing many buttons on the dashboard to adjust it. Tiger's Eye had resumed the position she had assumed when they had first met, with her foot against the wall and eyes closed, everything on her body language screaming she did not want to talk, and so, Sean didn't bother her.</p><p>In the back, Olive and Marine were organizing all of Sean's lugagge on the correct places (it was mostly Marine who was doing the work, at least seriously), and Sean went to join them.</p><p>"I still can't believe we're really here! Ah, man, just thinking about it makes me get cold feet and a chill to my stomach!"</p><p>"Cold feet? A chill on your stomach?!" Marine repeated, almost screaming, and knelt down, putting one hand on Sean's stomach and the other over his feet. "You must be sick! You can't travel if you're sick, what if you get worse?! That's it, we're--"</p><p>"N-no! I don't mean l-literally!" Sean said quickly, bringing his hands in front of his chest. "These are... expressions I learned from my Dad! When humans use them, it means they're very nervous about something! But I'm happy I'm here!"</p><p>"Oh." Marine said simply and got up, blushing slightly.</p><p>"See? There's nothing to worry about! Sean's happy to be on his first mission." Olive said with a laugh. "And we should be taking off soon!"</p><p>Coincidentally, just as she said that, the entire ship jolted, making Sean fall on his back; then it started shaking.</p><p>"Sean!" Marine screamed with worry, running to his aid.</p><p>"We're taking off! We're taking off!" was all the 13-years old boy could say, as he jumped up and ran to press his face against a window.</p><p>Sean watched with glee as the inside of the Elementals' ship began to become more and more distant from him; at one point, when he looked down he didn't see the gray metal flooring anymore, but the darkness of space with a few glinting points there and there. And then finally, as he looked into the distance, the entire ship of the Elementals was visible; it was huge, the largest thing Sean had ever seen, and the place he had been into for the last 13 years. The place he had never left until now. </p><p>He turned away from the window on the side of the ship, looking to its front. It was the same sight he saw sometimes when he visited his father inside the Humans' Area, but this time it was real, he knew, and he was actually there. Tears of joy appeared on the corners of Sean's eyes as he began smiling and giggling uncontrollably. Without thinking much, the boy jumped on Marine and Olive's direction, hugging both of them and laughing.</p><p>"S-Sean!" Marine exclaimed, taken aback by the sudden gesture.</p><p>"Hey, buddy..." Olive whispered, giving him pats on the back.</p><p>"We're actually here! I never thought I'd be saying this, but... we're out in the open! On space, with all these beautiful stars, and planets, and... so many things!" Sean said, staring at them through tears. "I'm so happy to be here with you! Thank you... I love you. So much!" After kissing both of them on their cheeks, Sean wiped away his tears. "Alright! Space observation, start!"</p><p>He went back to the window and again pressed his face against it obsessively. After a few minutes, Sean turned back, rubbing his eyes and yawning.</p><p>"Okay, space is very cool and all, but... when are we getting there?" he asked shyly, sitting down.</p><p>"At the current rate, the estimate is that we'll get there in... approximatedly 56 hours!" a voice came from the front of the ship, belonging to the hand gem petalite.</p><p>"56 hours?! H... how many days even is that?!"</p><p>"That is 2 days and 8 hours, Sean." Marine replied nonchalantly.</p><p>With wide eyes, Sean retreated until he hit the wall, and then proceeded to slowly sink into the ground into a slumping position. </p><p>"Well, Sean, you don't need to worry about this taking long, do you? Don't you humans have that sleeping thing?" Olive said.</p><p>"W-well, yeah, but... I don't sleep for too long... and, also, where would I even sleep?" he asked, looking around. As he finished speaking, a immediate smile popped up on Marine's face and she almost jumped out of the metal bench she and Olive were sitting, as if she had been waiting for such a question.</p><p>"Oh, about that, worry not! I planned everything to make this trip as comfortable as possible for you, Sean," she declared, already opening one of the suitcases and taking out his pajamas, a sleeping bag, and many blankets. "I brought this so that you were able to sleep during the flights!"</p><p>"Really? Wow, thanks a lot, Marine! You know... I think I'm going to sleep now. I barely slept the last time, I was too excited to come here..."</p><p>"Yeah, I noticed that... you were sleeping in Azurite's room before we came, after all." Olive said.</p><p>"You were, Sean? You must really be tired, then! Are you hungry too? Maybe it's already time for a pill..."</p><p>"N-no, thanks, I'm fine... I think I'll just take a nap, for now."</p><p>"Here are your pajamas."</p><p>Sean stared at the pajamas, then looked down at the clothes he was wearing and turned to the other Gems on the front, a light red appearing on his cheeks.</p><p>"W-wait, b-but... I'm going to... g-get dressed <em>here</em>? Take my clothes off... i-in front of e-everyone?" he stammered, looking away.</p><p>"Fine, we'll all turn around and close our eyes."</p><p>"O-okay... thanks."</p><p>After making sure nobody was staring at him, Sean took off his clothes, letting his shirt, pants and shoes fall to the floor and putting on the pajama's legs, buttoning the shirt up and putting the socks on too (Marine never let him step on the ground barefoot).</p><p>"Okay, I'm done." Sean handed his clothes to Marine after she opened her eyes.</p><p>"Good... now, here." She placed the sleeping bag over another metal bench and Sean lied over it, and then she zipped it until only his head was visible, and covered him more with blankets. "How are you feeling, Sean?"</p><p>"...Wrapped up?" the boy mumbled, staring at her face above his, barely able to move and feeling as if he were inside a cocoon.</p><p>"Great! Sweet dreams, Sean. I'll be just over there!" she said with a smile and pointed at the other bench, against the other wall, in front of the one Sean was on. Putting his pupils on the very corner of his eyes, he was able to catch a glimpse, but he couldn't even move enough to see it fully.</p><p>"O-oh, okay, um... see you soon?"</p><p>As Marine disappeared from his vision, Sean let out a small sigh and closed his eyes, thinking of the planet that awaited him, the first place he would ever step on asides the ship he had spent his entire life on. Maybe he would see it when he woke up. Or after he fell asleep again and woke up again. Or after the third time, he wasn't quite sure.</p><p>2 days is a painfully and unfairly long time, Sean concluded before falling asleep.</p><p>***</p><p>
  <em>Anger boiled inside of him intensely like a wall of fire waiting to burn him slowly. He bit the inside of his mouth, in a futile way to tame the feelings swirling everywhere, but no, something as simple as that would not work, it never did; with an animalistic growl, he brought his hand down a small table near him, making it crash down to the ground under his rage.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>From the other side, came a small squeal of alarm, but he didn't pay attention, didn't think about it. It didn't work. Even staring at the mess he had made, at the broken pieces of the round table, he could still feel the anger. Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists didn't work either; stopping it required much more than that, and he felt his whole body beginning to shake madly, telling him that no matter how he tried, it was going to erupt any time soon.</em>
</p><p><em>He swung around and allowed his fist to hit whatever was there. Maybe it wouldn't calm the storm raging inside of him, but taking it out would make him feel better, doing the same thing </em>they<em> had done to him to something else.</em></p><p>
  <em>"Oh, no!" the other voice called out, but he didn't listen once again and pulled his hand out of the wall, staring at the crack it made, chest going up and down in unneeded breathing.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"It's not fair," was all he could choke out, in such a guttural way that it was barely understandable. "It's not fair!" he screamed, now punching the wall with both fists. It was mentally refreshing but at the same time physically tiring, and he rested his forehead on the wall between his closed hands.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"P-please, calm down," the voice spoke again, and he felt a hand on his back. "Tell me what's wrong... can I do something for you?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Nobody, nobody can do anything! The only people who could do refused me!" he swept his body around, making his pearl flinch backwards, away from him. "Like they always do... like everyone does, whenever I need them..."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He began stomping away to the other side of the room and this time, grabbed another table, a smaller one, before shooting it on the ground in front of him; in his blind fury, he didn't even realize there was a flower pot over it as decoration, and the glass broke upon hitting the ground, making the water inside splash everywhere, wetting his feet. The flower lied on the middle of the pool, now bearing a more grayish tone on its red petals, and then it finally withered away after he crushed it under his shoes.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I hate them!" he shouted, loud enough for whoever was passing through the corridors in front of his room to hear everything. "It's always like this. I have to do my work, and I always do it as perfectly as possible... I go through everything I have to just to please everyone. But when it comes to me, nobody ever moves an inch! I'm tired of being all nice and sacrificing my time and energy when nobody does anything for me! They don't listen to me, they don't do what I want!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"They probably just want to make sure you're ready enough before doing this," the pearl suggested, clasping her hands together far from him. "Maybe... you just need to be a little more patient!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I've already been patient enough! Do you know how long I've been waiting in this stupid ship? I'm so unhappy here, I can't stand it anymore! I wish I could do something else for once, something new and exciting, but nobody cares about what I want!" he knocked over a chair as he screamed out everything his mind had been screaming to him. "I'm tired, I'm so tired!" He let out a tearless sob, clutching his wavy curls with his hands.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I know you're in pain... p-perhaps... perhaps talking to me would make you feel better..." the pearl suggested weakly, extending her hand towards him with hesitation. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Ahhh... a-ahn..." he began to mumble, too worn out to actually let words out. Actually, he realized, he felt nothing more, the fire that had previously been powering his actions had been extinguished, leaving out only the ashes; the painful remains. He lifted his shaky hands, hanging his head to look at them and the tears escaped from his eyes to land on his palms.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He dropped to his knees and covered his face with both hands. Now what he wasn't able to contain were the tears, overflowing and dripping to the floor. Occasionally his shoulders would shake as he let out quiet, tiny sobs and swallowed; once he even looked around at the messy room, but the sight was too much and he quickly hid his face again. Not able to face the consequences of his actions. A coward. Kneeling on the epicenter of the destruction he caused himself.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>After what felt like an eternity of crying, once again he felt a hand on his back.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"What have I done..." he murmured. "This is so bad... this is all so bad, I... didn't mean... did I really do all this?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"About that, you don't need to worry! I'll fix everything up and ask for replacements of all the destroyed items!" the pearl chirped in a happy tone that didn't match her previous behavior. She was probably just trying to make him feel better, but he didn't deserve it.</em>
</p><p><em>"I-it's... not about fixing or replacing it..." he said, wiping away the tears. "It'll just happen again... and we'll have this again... how many times have we had </em>this<em> before? How many times did you have to do all this?"</em></p><p>
  <em>"I-I don't mind. We... can keep doing this."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"But this... isn't normal! This can't be normal..." He brought his hand to his mouth as a new flood of tears left his eyes. "I don't want to be like this... I don't want to do this... I don't want to feel like this..."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Slowly, the pearl's hand retreated from his back, and without hesitation, he turned around and hugged her; she was too filled with shock to react at first, but then hugged him back.</em>
</p><p><em>"P-please, don't leave me alone now..." he begged, holding onto her as if his life depended on that. "Please, don't </em>ever<em> leave me alone... I can't do this by myself, and... you're always so good to me... even more than I deserve it... so I beg you, stay with me..."</em></p><p>
  <em>"Yes, of course, if that's what you want! I'd never leave you... I'll serve you for as long as you exist!" the response came quickly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He shook his head and hugged her tighter, letting more tears come out.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"As a friend," he told her. "Please, promise me you'll always be there for me as a friend."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A second passed before the response came.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I promise I'll forever be your friend, my--"</em>
</p><p>***</p><p>His body being thrown to the hard ground and landing on his face was what forced Sean's eyes open.</p><p>"Wah!" he shrieked, trying to move his limbs to get up but finding his movements seriously restricted; after looking around, the boy remembered he was inside the sleeping bag. He had literally been contorting on a coccon.</p><p>"Oh, Sean!" Marine screamed, rushing towards him, and turned him to face the roof of the ship. "Are you alright?! How could I have been so careless... I'm so sorry, Sean!"</p><p>"I-it's okay! I-I'm fine, don't worry..." Sean said quickly, to soothe her down. Surprisingly, the ground beneath his body was still shaking even though he was static. "U-um, what's going on? Is this a... space earthquake? Spacequake?"</p><p>"N-no, it's just... we're just going through some space turbulence. We'll be alright, this will pass soon."</p><p>"Hey, Sean, are you hungry?" Olive called from where she was, on the other metal bench across.</p><p>Before Sean could answer, Marine picked him up and placed him back on the metal bench he had been lying on, but this time in a sitting position; though it was extremely uncomfortable, as the sleeping bag was just involving his body and not actually glued to it, so he couldn't go on a sitting position, just stand upright and slowly slide off the bench.</p><p>"I... think I want to eat, yeah." he answered simply. Marine nodded enthusiastically and immediately ran to open one of the suitcases. "Having weird dreams again... what was that even about..." he mumbled for only himself to hear.</p><p>Sean's dreams mostly revolved around things he really wanted, things he had been thinking of before sleeping, or sometimes just chaotic madness, and the last two dreams he had were not any of these. They were their own little stories, and while they went on, he didn't feel like himself, but as a completely different person. Not to mention they were so realistic; from what he could remember, it seemed as if they were taking place on the Elementals' ship, either his own or in another.</p><p>He only knew one thing: whoever these people in his dreams were, and wherever they were, Sean wanted to help him. If they were real, which he strongly believed so.</p><p>"Here you go!" Marine told him, as she handed him a pill on one hand and a cup of water on the other.</p><p>"Thanks..." Sean put the pill on his mouth and then swallowed it with the water. "It really has no taste... a-also, how much time are we going to spend there?"</p><p>"A few days. Just enough to explore most of the planet's surface." one of the petalites replied.</p><p>"A few days? A few days without real food... n-not that it's a problem! After all, I'm really strong, and I can resist anything! B-but, uh, can you please take this sleeping bag out of me?"</p><p>Marine unzipped the sleeping bag, and just as she did so, Sean jumped on the air, spreading his arms and legs.</p><p>"Ahh, freedom! Hey, for how long was I asleep? How long until we get there?"</p><p>"You were sleeping for about 2 hours... so 2 days and 6 hours still remain, Sean." Marine replied.</p><p>"Okay..." he sighed. "I guess I just need to be a little more patient..."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sean having weird dreams... hmm... I wonder what could possibly be happening...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Little Things</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sean has a bit of fun after the arrival.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The remaining two days passed as slowly as they could possibly have passed. Sean tried to keep himself strong, reminding himself of the reward that was waiting for him if he just was patient, but still, it was painful. It couldn't not be; he basically spent the time repeating the same actions, and the ship was small, so there he could barely walk around. A part of his mind missed the Elementals' ship, where he could take long strolls through the corridors, meet new Gems, visit his father, discover new rooms...</p><p>There were moments were Sean was tired, not physically, but mentally. Those two days felt like a thousand years, if he could imagine something like that; all the Gems weren't nearly as bothered as him, even though they hadn't slept or did anything, for that matter, for the whole trip! Sean knew they were thousands of times older than him, so maybe their conception of time was different, but he thought it came from their personalities as well. After all, he could barely spend five minutes without doing anything, and whenever he was standing still, his mouth was moving, usually to tell Marine and Olive about something he had the discovered, treating it as if it were the most interesting thing in the entire Universe.</p><p>When they finally arrived there, Sean had been simply <em>thrilled</em>. He had been the first one to exit the ship and jerked his head around in all directions, like he could see the entire planet with that; but from his quick movements, he was able to notice quite a few things: the planet's sky was light purple, the floor was made of some tough material like stone and of a brownish orange color, and save for some mountains in the distance, it seemed fairly desert.</p><p>"This place is huuuuge!" he said, watching as everyone else left the ship; after spotting something else on the planet's surface, Sean gasped, his eyes starting to shine, and pointed in a direction. "Oh, look! Over there! There's a... lagoon right over there! The water is dark brown, it looks like chocolate milk... can I taste it?!"</p><p>"Absolutely <em>not</em>!" Marine said and promptly pulled him away. "We don't know what that is made of! It could be harmful to your health! And just because it <em>looks</em> like chocolate milk doesn't mean that it <em>tastes</em> like chocolate milk, Sean."</p><p>"You're right..." Sean agreed with a sigh of hopelessness and let Marine take him back to where the others were.</p><p>The ship they had used was parked there, with its door open so they could go inside whenever they wanted. The petalites were discussing things, the one with her gem on her leg using the tablet she had been previously using too, while Tiger's Eye was sitting on a rock nearby, gazing forwards at nothing in particular. Olive walked towards Sean and Marine.</p><p>"Uh, so, what now?" she asked them, shrugging.</p><p>"I'm... not sure," Sean said. "Maybe we should go ask them?"</p><p>"If you want to, then go for it, Sean." Marine said and then glanced at Tiger's Eye. "But be careful, alright?"</p><p>He just gave her a nod and a small smile, before running towards the petalites. They paid him no mind, and he preferred to believe they just didn't notice him because they were so focused on their work, because the other explanation, the one where they didn't like him, wasn't pleasing.</p><p>"Hey, guys! What are you doing over here? I don't know much about all this tech stuff, but maybe I can help somehow!" he offered, making exaggerated gestures to try and convince them.</p><p>"I'm sorry, but in spite of your status, there's not much you can do in this situation. As you yourself admitted, you are not good at handing technology." the chest gem petalite said after a few seconds of silence.</p><p>"O-oh, that's fine... then I could just stay here and talk to you! Also... do you guys have any nicknames? It's easier to refer to you with those, because you're all petalites!"</p><p>For the first time since he arrived, all of them turn their faces towards him, and so, Sean gave them the brightest smile he he had in him, eyes shining like a real star. The expression on their faces was of puzzlement, but Sean didn't mind; he had managed to catch their attention, and he would gladly explain them anything they wanted to ask him!</p><p>"What is a... 'nickname'?" the leg gem one asked, pronouncing the word with pauses as if breaking it down would help explain its meaning.</p><p>"I've never heard of that term before..." the one with her gem on her palm remarked, bringing her fingers to her chin.</p><p>"It must be a human concept..." the chest gem petalite concluded, before clasping her hands together and turning to Sean. "My Sean McCarthy! Would you care to explain to us what a nickname means?"</p><p>"Of course, I can tell you everything! But first, um... you don't need to call me by my full name, you can call me just Sean!"</p><p>"My Sean."</p><p>"Y-you can also cut the 'my'... it's really not necessary. I-I mean, I know you're trying to be respectful, but I'm not better or worse than you because of what a caste system says... we can be friends. Equals."</p><p>Because of the way they looked at him, Sean couldn't quite tell if they had understood, but at least they weren't going to call him "My Sean McCarthy" anymore (or so he hoped), and with time, they would probably feel the same about him.</p><p>"But, anyway, about nicknames! They're like a person's second name... they can be endearing words you say to someone you like, too. People normally use them when their name is too long or they don't like it. In this case, I'd be using them because you all have the same name." Sean then pointed to Marine and Olive who were chatting, from afar. "These are my caretakers! I call them Marine and Olive. Those are nicknames."</p><p>"I see... such a simple notion, but intriguing as well. And... what do we need to do to obtain those nicknames?"</p><p>"Well, there isn't really a process to win a nickname or something, if that's what you're asking! You just... choose them."</p><p>"You get that much freedom?" the hand gem petalite said in disbelief.</p><p>"Yeah! A nickname is supposed to be something you like, something you feel comfortable with, so it being forced onto you would contradict the whole purpose of it! So, tell me... what do you guys like? What makes you happy?"</p><p>His statements seemed to bring even more questions to the petalites' heads, as they kept staring at him in silence. Sean furrowed his brows, keeping the smile, in a futile attempt to encourage them to start speaking. He looked away before turning back to them.</p><p>"Okay, maybe you don't know that yet... I-I mean, I don't think you've done anything but work for your whole lives, so I don't think you know much. In this case... I'll help you! I'll think of nicknames for each of you, and then you tell me if you like it or not. Is that okay?" In response to the question, they nodded their heads. "Great! Hm, let's see..."</p><p>With his hand on his chin, Sean looked at the one who was more to the right, the one with her gem on her hand. Noticing she was being stared at, she flinched and quickly a blush took over her cheeks. Sean kept staring: she had pale green skin, dark green eyes, and, like all petalites, her short hair was spiking up on the top, and its color was like a mix between the color of her skin and eyes.</p><p>"I know! How about... Grassy?" Sean suggested.</p><p>"...What does that mean?" she asked, squinting at him.</p><p>"It comes from grass! Whenever I go to the Humans' Area to visit my Dad, I see grass everywhere on the floor... it's this green plant that comes from Earth. I thought of this since your hair kinda looks like grass!" Sean explained, chuckling. Hearing this, she touched her hair.</p><p>"Hm, grass, Grassy... I think I <em>l-like</em> it?" she said, pronouncing the phrase weirdly as if she weren't sure if she should be saying that. Sean nodded to her. "I like it... so, I'm Grassy now?"</p><p>"Yeah, you're Grassy! Now, let's see you..." Sean then turned his gaze to the one with her gem on her leg, on the middle.</p><p>Unlike Grassy, this one showed no embarrassment at the idea of being looked at. Instead, she just stared back at Sean and crossed her arms, still holding her tablet, with a glint of defiance on her eyes. She bore a resemblance to Grassy, their only differences being their gemstone placement and the fact that this one's hair was yellow instead of green.</p><p>"You really like your tablet, don't you?" Sean remarked, pointing at the device on her hands.</p><p>"Well, naturally. I have everything I need in it! It's where I make reports, and it's what I'm going to use to relate everything we find in this planet." she answered.</p><p>"So it's like a writing pad! In this case, I'll call you... Pad! What do you think?"</p><p>"Pad? It doesn't sound bad... Pad... its syllable does have a satisfying sound to it. I like it." Pad agreed.</p><p>"Nice! So, now, you..." Sean turned his gaze to the remaining petalite, on the left.</p><p>She didn't cower or glare at him, she just stood there with a neutral expression on her face, waiting for him to finish his analysis. Unlike the others, this one had light yellow skin and hair of the same color, but like any other petalite, she had short stature and the same physical traits.</p><p>"I've got the best idea! You could be Gold!" he exclaimed. "Because, you know, your skin and hair are yellow! I haven't seen many petalites that look like this!"</p><p>"Ah, you know, it's quite rare... and the nickname is fine by me. I like it." Gold said.</p><p>"Yay! There we are... Grassy, Pad, and Gold! There are your new nicknames!" Sean cheered, clapping.</p><p>The three petalites looked at each other and Grassy gave Sean a small smile. For more seconds, they all stood there awkwardly, doing nothing and saying nothing.</p><p>"What now?" Gold asked.</p><p>"Uh, now we can do fun activities together as friends! Like..." He picked up two small orange rocks nearby. "Like juggling! Let's see if I can do it!" Sean threw both rocks on the air, but they ended up crashing against each other and hit his face, making him let out a cry of pain and almost fall. Rubbing his aching nose, he concluded, "O-okay, maybe juggling is not the best option..."</p><p>Sean looked down, at the ground made of stone. With an idea suddenly sprouting inside his mind, he lifted his foot then hit it back on the surface, making a "tap" sound. Gasping, he lifted his back up to show them his shining eyes.</p><p>"We could do tap dancing!"</p><p>"What is tap?" Grassy asked.</p><p>"What is dancing?" Gold followed.</p><p>"And what is <em>tap dancing</em>?" Pad concluded.</p><p>"It's basically... moving in a certain rhythm to make sounds from the ground! And then... use the sounds to make music! I'll admit, I'm not the best singer out there... but when I was younger and I couldn't leave my room, I used to try making music with the objects around me since I was bored, so I'd say I'm fairly good at <em>that</em>!"</p><p>They still didn't look fully convinced.</p><p>"Here, I'll show you!"</p><p>Taking a deep breath, Sean jumped and started dancing, producing sounds from the floor each time his shoes came in contact with it. Grassy, Pad and Gold watched in astonishment, wondering how could he take such a normal thing, something they never thought of, and transform it into <em>that</em>. After Sean was done, he panted and wiped sweat away from his forehead, but still kept his smile.</p><p>"So, what did you think? Not too bad, right?"</p><p>"It's revolutionary! But... what is the purpose of it?"</p><p>"It... I do it to have fun, but I'm sure other people do it for different reasons. People like listening to songs because it makes them feel good in a way." Sean explained. "Hey, all of you three have nicknames now... but what about her?" He pointed to Tiger's Eye.</p><p>"You want to talk to <em>her</em>? You'll be lucky if you keep your physical form!" Pad said with bitter sarcasm, looking away.</p><p>"What do you mean? L-look, she's all by herself... she's probably just too shy to come and talk to us, but I think she's feeling lonely! I'll go introduce myself to her!"</p><p>Before they could protest further, Sean turned around and jogged his way towards the Gem. Even when he was right in front of her, she didn't bother lifting her head to stare at him, which made him wary, but didn't discourage him.</p><p>"Hello there, I'm Sean McCarthy, though you probably already know that! And you're Tiger's Eye, right?" No response. "I-it's a cool name, but a bit long, right? So can I call you Tiger instead?"</p><p>"I don't care about what stupid name you use to refer to me." she hissed, with a hoarse tone.</p><p>"O-oh. I'll just call you Tiger, then. So, uh, what are you don't here all by yourself? Don't you want to go and join me and everyone else?"</p><p>"Why would I waste my time with weaklings like you?"</p><p>Sean was taken aback by the response and his smile quivered a little.</p><p>"B-but, I mean, you don't seem to be doing anything, so... you should come with us! If you don't want to chat, that's fine... but in my opinion, doing nothing with friends is better than doing nothing alone!"</p><p>Tiger rose from her seat without giving any warning, making Sean recoil backwards and let out a badly-muffled squeal of shock. He had seen her standing before, on that room and inside the ship, but he hadn't been close enough to realize how big she was compared to him; Sean had to keep his head up to be able to see her face, and she seemed almost twice as tall as he was.</p><p>"Listen here, <em>Azurite</em>," she started, spitting the name out like it felt gross on her mouth. "I don't care about your opinion, and I sure am <em>not</em> your friend."</p><p>"T-that's okay, but... I'm not Azurite, she's my Mom, I only have her gem. I-I'm Sea--"</p><p>"You can shut up about this idiotic new alias of yours!" Tiger said in an almost screaming tone, making Sean freeze in terror when for an instant she leaned next to his face with brows furred and teeth gritted. "I don't care how many names, forms or voices you hide behind... you can't change who you are. A <em>coward</em>. You were far too weak to remain loyal to our organization, so you betrayed our entire kind to sneak off with humans! What do they have that Gems don't? Tell me, Azurite. Since you adore humans so much, tell me <em>why</em>."</p><p>Sean couldn't even think of any words to let out. He found that his body was shaking and sweating; why? </p><p>"That's what I expected. Because deep inside, not even you know. You truly are pathethic," She brought her hand forwards and grabbed Sean by his shirt before pulling him up; the boy vainly shook his dangling legs trying to feel the ground beneath them, with his hands over Tiger's, trying to keep her from getting too close to his neck. "I should just shatter you just for assuming an appearance as disgusting as this and put you out of your misery."</p><p>"N-no, no, please--"</p><p>"Hey, you. Let Sean go right now."</p><p>Both turned around to see an angry-looking Olive standing there, prepared to fight if necessary.</p><p>"O-Olive! I--"</p><p>Before Sean could finish his sentence, he was dropped to the ground, and without saying any other world, Tiger turned around and walked away. Coughing, Sean sat up on the ground.</p><p>"Sean! Are you okay?! I <em>knew</em> I shouldn't have left you unsupervised! Let me check you for any injuries..." Marine said, and when Sean realized, she was already kneeling in front of him and looking to see if he was hurt.</p><p>"M-Marine, it's okay, I'm fine... I'm not hurt." he soothed her, getting up and brushing the dust off his clothes.</p><p>"Just... what was she telling you? Are you really sure you're fine?" Olive asked.</p><p>"Yeah... s-she was talking to be about my M-Mom. She thinks I-I'm her... a-and I don't think she likes h-her very much."</p><p>"Ah, Sean... just... don't pay attention to what she or anyone else says... you're perfect the way you are!" Marine said in an attempt to comfort him.</p><p>"Yeah! You're great, Sean, much better than whatever she is. Don't think badly of yourself just because of that." Olive completed and gave him a pat on the back.</p><p>But what Sean felt for himself was not lack of confidence or anything or the sort, and instead, just frustration for not being able to get through to Tiger right away, but at the same time, eagerness to go and talk to her again. He was well-aware that anyone, even Marine and Olive, would think he was stubborn and didn't know when to give up because of these thoughts, but Sean preferred to consider himself determined and hopeful.</p><p>Sean was one to see the good in every and anyone, even when everyone else would deem them as hopeless; and this was a characteristic his caretakers worried for, because they were more experienced and well aware that many wouldn't reciprocate Sean's kindness. Marine was concerned by it more than Olive, who believed that Sean should decide who to trust or not himself; Marine didn't put too much faith on Sean's choices, and she wouldn't be able to <em>stand</em> to see someone wipe Sean's smile out of his face.</p><p>If the <em>worst</em> happened to him, if by any chance he were to be broken beyond repair, Marine would probably just drown on her own self-pity, unable to do anything for him. Without interruptions, that would probably last forever, but being what she was, a <em>pearl</em>, the Elementals would not allow her to stand there, <em>ownerless</em>. She would need to be transferred to somebody else, and her state would be so bad that they would need to rejuvenate her, and wipe all her memories of him, and for her, it'd be like he had never existed at all. But she didn't want that; if, for any reason, he disappeared, she would want it to <em>hurt</em>, to keep reminding her that one day, he had existed, and smiled, and laughed.</p><p>"...Sean. Why don't we go back inside the ship, and I can show you all the activities that I prepared for you to do here?" Marine said, with a forced cheery tone.</p><p>"Okay!" Sean agreed promptly. "You should come with us too, Olive!"</p><p>"Sure. I mean, not that I have anything else to do here..."</p><p>The three of them headed back inside the ship, which was now empty and turned off. Sean sat down on his bench, with Olive by his side, and Marine opened one of the suitcases in search for whatever she had brought to keep him enternained. Eventually, she pulled out a tablet with a black screen, and closed the suitcase before handing it to the boy with a grin.</p><p>"Oh, wow, a tablet! That's so cool! Can I play games with it? How do I turn it on?" he spoke all at once, and after accidentally touching a button on the side of the device, its screen lit up, showing a hand shape colored in a darker gray than the background. "What's this?"</p><p>"I'll explain everything! This tablet was manufactured especially for your use during this trip, and maybe even after it, Sean! It uses the same technology as the detectors used to activate the doors of the ship," Marine said, then placed her hand over it. However, it did not unlock the screen, and for a few seconds, a X shape appeared over the hand with the words "ACCESS DENIED" flashing over it, before going back to normal. "But like I said, it was made just for you, so only you can access it. Place your hand in there, and it'll immediately scan your gemstone and recognize you as the owner!"</p><p>"Okay! Here it goes!" Sean put his hand over the hand on the screen, and after taking it out, the words "ACCESS GRANTED" flashed over the figure for a second before a different layout appeared on the tablet's screen. "Guys, look! I did it, I unlocked it for real!"</p><p>"Good job!" Olive congratulated him, ruffling his hair.</p><p>"Yes, well done, Sean! Now you can see all the activities I myself prepared just for you!"</p><p>Sean looked back at the screen, and the visible excitement left his face slowly as he scanned the countless numbers and shapes that were filling the screen; even as he used his finger to swipe down, there was no difference.</p><p>"Um... l-let's see this... 'solve this equation'... 'calculate the area of the trapezium'... 'find X'..." he started reading some of the problems written there. "And... 'calculate the distance between the Earth and the Sun'... 'find the object's speed'... u-uh, are those all... math and physics things? Is this going to be like that one time you asked me to calculate the first 50 digits of pi without a calculator?"</p><p>"Why, of course! In fact, if you go to the 134th question, you'll see that that's exactly what I'm asking you to do there!" Marine answered happily.</p><p>"Are you telling me you made more than a hundred <em>hard</em> math questions for him to do?!" Olive exclaimed. "Woah... my condolences, Sean. I hope your brain, or whatever it's called, doesn't fry after you finish all these..."</p><p>"M-me too... I-I mean, when you talked about activities, I was expecting a game or something like that..."</p><p>"I imagine you'd expect something like that... but if you're going to be occupied, you should be occupied doing something productive, that's what I always say!" Marine replied with a laugh. "You can start doing them whenever you want!"</p><p>"Okay... t-thanks for the gift."</p><p>Sean sighed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Stay tuned for the next chapter... I plan to have a rather MAJOR thing happening!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Together</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sean and Marine run into trouble.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The tablet didn't hold Sean for long, as anyone would expect.</p><p>He had barely finished the 20th question when he started talking about how bored and trapped he was feeling in there. Marine had suggested sleeping again, but Sean argued that it was not lack of sleep, but lack of action and movement. Of course, the boy had gone there to see a new planet in details, not stay inside the ship solving math problems (because he already did that back at the Elementals' ship, more often than not).</p><p>Sean put his tablet down on the bench and said he was going outside to check up on the others, promising he wasn't going to attempt talking to Tiger again (at least not that soon). He spoke genuinely; after all that had happened, he thought that giving her some time to think about everything was the best. And maybe, if she kept observing his actions from afar, she'd eventually realize he was not Azurite, after all. And perhaps, Sean would also reach the same conclusion.</p><p>"Hey there, guys! What are you doing?" Sean asked the petalites. Taking a closer look at them, he saw that Pad and Grassy were kneeling down next to the floor, with Pad using a knife-like object to break small pieces from the rock, then putting them on the test tube Grassy was holding. Gold was standing with her back turned to him, holding a test tube already full of rock close to her face.</p><p>"Oh, Sean. We were studying the samples from this planet's surface." Gold replied and turned towards him, revealing she was wearing a mask made of some sort of metal, with glass circles where her eyes should be.</p><p>"Woah, what's... what's up wih the mask?" Sean asked curiously, with a laugh.</p><p>"It magnifies objects. I'm using it to analyze these rocks from up close." she answered, showing him the test tube.</p><p>"C-can I try? Only if that's okay, of course..."</p><p>Gold looked back at Grassy and Pad, who nodded and shrugged respectively. Then, with her free hand, she removed the mask and handed it to Sean.</p><p>"Here. It's all yours, but don't break it, because we only have one spare left."</p><p>"Thanks, I'll be careful with it!" Sean carefully put on the mask, tying it behind his back as tightly as possible to avoid it falling. "I-it really does make things b-bigger... moving feels so weird, a-ah!" He staggered backwards, before regaining composure. "Okay... I'm fine now! Can I take a look at those rocks?"</p><p>Gold nodded and handed him the test tube.</p><p>"Thanks. Let me see..." Squinting his eyes behind the mask, Sean was able to see each part of the orangeish rocks perfectly while he turned the tube around. "They're basically orange! Some darker and lighter shades around... hm, there are some white speckles here... they're a bit shiny... wait, could this be <em>salt</em>?!"</p><p>Without even thinking about it, Sean pushed the glasses out of his eyes to his forehead, pulled the rock out of the tube and licked it; horrified by the entire action, Gold snatched the tube away from his hand with the possibly most disgusted expression anyone had ever given him.</p><p>"I-it doesn't even taste like salt... it just tastes like... rock..." Sean lamented, almost on the verge of tears. "Sorry about this... it's just been so long since I tasted anything! I miss salt, with its... salty flavor. And I miss sugar too, sugar is also great, of course... I can't forget about sour things either! All tastes are great... and I miss them all..."</p><p>"That sounds... odd." </p><p>"I guess it does, to a Gem... s-sorry. But, anyway, thanks for letting me try this... if you guys want to take more samples, there is that brown lake that looks like chocolate milk over there!" Sean informed them, pointing to the direction of the lake.</p><p>"Yes, we took note of that... it's the next place we're going to examine. But, still... we appreciate your suggestion."</p><p>Sean nodded and gave them a smile, with a pink blush starting to grow on his cheeks. He then felt a hand touching his right shoulder and turned around to see Marine standing there.</p><p>"Hey, Marine! Did you come here to join us?" he asked.</p><p>"Oh, well, I... I-I was talking to Olive about you, and she suggested that maybe... going out to explore a little would make you happy. So, if you want to... we could do that." she explained awkwardly.</p><p>"You mean... explore around the planet?! Yes! That would be amazing, I want to see everything! Isn't Olive coming with us too?"</p><p>"I asked her to, but she said that this could be a good opportunity for you to explain me why you like this kind of activity more than doing your exercises. She said you'd convince me to let you go in adventures freely if I gave you a chance, so... h-here we are!" Marine gave him a forced, fearful smile, and Sean took her hand.</p><p>"You're right, I will! B-but you're sure you know the way back if we get far, right?" Sean asked with a hint of fear in his voice, just to make sure.</p><p>"Yes, I got this device to help us move around." Marine took out a rectangular device similar to the tablet she had given Sean earlier, but much smaller, about the size of her hand. "This green circle on its screen is the ship, and the blue arrow is our current location. To get back, we just need to follow the place the arrow points to."</p><p>"Oh, cool! Then, we can start exploring! Let's go forwards, to the North, and let's see what we can find!" the boy giggled, barely able to contain his elation. "Isn't it awesome?!"</p><p>"I guess it is," Marine agreed with a small smile, probably caused by seeing Sean's happiness than the actual idea of travelling around the planet. "But, as you know, you have a sleep and eating schedule... so let's not take long, and let's try not going <em>too</em> far. Alright?"</p><p>"Yeah, okay! Just going around is good enough!"</p><p>The two of them walked for about half an hour, and they had already discovered something new about the place they were in. There were sandstorms in there; or at least something close enough, with that planet's version of sand, an orange dust that had the same color of the rocky ground. The first time Marine and Sean were exposed to it, Sean had spread his arms and laughed, but the second storm was a particularly strong one, and the boy cried in pain as all the fragments hit his skin at full force. Thankfully, they didn't run into any more sandstorms after that, just mountains and lakes.</p><p>"Hey, look at me, I'm at the top of the world!" Sean exclaimed, now standing over a small rock prominence with his arms lifted. "I, Sean McCarthy, officially proclaim myself the king of this entire planet! And you and Olive can be my counsellors if you want!"</p><p>"If a counsellor's job is to take care of you, then I'll gladly be yours!" Marine chuckled.</p><p>"Good! Yeah, I think that's what counsellors do... they're advisors. They help the king make decisions so he can rule over the land and help the people as nicely as possible." Sean jumped out of the small hill and caught up with Marine. "Hey, talking about it, do you think there's any life here?"</p><p>"Life? I... hadn't thought about it, but it's an interesting question." She stayed quiet for a few seconds, bringing her fingers to her mouth to think all while Sean waited patiently to hear her thoughts. "I wouldn't be too sure about the existence of vegetation, especially since we haven't see any thus far. Some species of plants can grow on rocks, maybe like this one... and they do have light, but this planet seems to lack water and maybe even carbon dioxide, which are essential for them to perform photosynthesis. Unless the plants here have soms sort of mutation that allows them to survive without this, there won't be any."</p><p>"Aww, you're right... no plants, then. But what about animals?"</p><p>"You're the living proof that this planet's atmosphere has oxygen in it... but it doesn't seem to have any form of sustenance for them to gain nutrients through."</p><p>"You mean food? Yeah, that's right... the closest thing there is to food I've seen here so far is that chocolate milk-like water, but we don't know what it does. B-but maybe there could still be life... maybe a species like Gems, that doesn't need food and water and stuff! Maybe even actual Gems living here!" Sean argued, still clinging to the last shreds of hope.</p><p>"It's not a bad theory, but... I doubt it. Some time before this expedition, the Elementals sent a Red Eye they made to this planet to detect the presence of any Gems, and all reports were negative. I'm sorry, Sean."</p><p>He stayed quiet for a few seconds.</p><p>"T-that's okay, don't worry. I mean, the main reason I came here was to just meet a new place... meeting new people would just be an extra!" he added.</p><p>"Oh... good. It might be hard for you to spend so much time with the same people, considering you like to meet new Gems, but... I know you're strong enough to endure it. Right?"</p><p>"Yup! I love you and Olive, so spending time with both of you is always nice. Grassy, Pad and Gold are also really cool, and before we left, they even let me examine a rock! Oh, those are the petalites... I gave them nicknames so I could chat with them!" Sean started telling her. "And Tiger... s-she doesn't really like me now, true, but... I know I can convince her to be my friend."</p><p>"Sean, I..." Marine stopped, before she let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose and stared at him with a half frustrated half worried gaze. "I know you have the best intentions. You want to be friends with everyone, you want to get rid of all this... <em>bad stuff</em>. But... you can't always do that, much less by yourself. Some things are just the way they are... and some people simply don't want to change."</p><p>"I... don't think it'd be impossible to convince someone to be better. And even if it is... I don't want to give up. I want to keep trying. I know I could just let them be and live my own life without being affected, while they just stay the way they are. I just think there should be an alternative."</p><p>After that conversation, everything became more awkward with the silence growing. Sean's eyes darted around the place, trying to look for anything he could point out to Marine to change the subject and the atmosphere between them, but nothing else came up, until he spotted something akin to a cave in front of them.</p><p>"Marine! Look over there, there's a cave!" he exclaimed, grabbing her hand and pointing at the direction of the cave. "Can we go there?! There could be something cool inside! Let's check it out!"</p><p>"Alright, then... let's go there if you want to, Sean." Marine said, flashing him a smile.</p><p>The boy jogged towards the cave and Marine followed him. Its hole was quite small, but crouching down, Sean could see that the inside was very large and probably enough for both of them to stand up and walk around.</p><p>"The entrance is here! Do you want to go in, or should I go first?" </p><p>"Eh... I'll go first to make sure it's safe for you to go, Sean." Marine announced and handed him the localization device. "If anything happens, you have to use this to get back to where the others are, okay?"</p><p>"Don't worry... nothing is going to happen! It doesn't look dangerous... I think we're good."</p><p>Marine nodded to him before lying down and crawling inside the cave; Sean was just about to follow her and do the same, when she pushed her hand out through the entrance hole, gesturing him to stop, and mumbled something about waiting before she called him. With a small sigh, Sean waited for some seconds, lying with his stomach and chin against the ground.</p><p>"Alright... I think it's safe. Come on in, Sean... and only get up when you're sure there's nothing above your head!"</p><p>"I'll be sure to!"</p><p>Sean crawled inside the cave to see Marine standing right in front of him; after getting up, he spun around to take a better look at his surroundings. Embedded to the dark orange walls was a grayish substance similar to hard cement, as if it were attaching the walls together; but what really caught Sean's attention were the small, shell-like objects stuck on the gray substance, shining with their own bluish white light and allowing him to see everything around him.</p><p>"It's so... beautiful," he whispered, squeezing his cheeks with his own hands as tears began to roll down them from his shining eyes.</p><p>"I guess it really is unique," Marine remarked, with her voice echoing around the walls. </p><p>"It's just so refreshing to think about how a place so far away from where we were has something that would make us happy... who could imagine?" Sean laughed, wiping his tears away with a sniff. "And to think there are even more planets out there with things as beautiful as this... it's amazing. The universe is beautiful!"</p><p>Looking forwards, Sean noticed something akin to a ramp going down. Countless thoughts, possibilities and theories started going through his head, so in his excitement, he ran towards it, giggling.</p><p>"Sean! Where are you going?" Marine shouted, starting to run after him.</p><p>Then the boy suddenly came to a stop; not because of Marine calling him but because, his eyes met one of the shells on the wall. But this one was much bigger than the others, and due to its size, shone even brighter than all the others, which temporarily blinded Sean when he got his first glance on it. Gasping out a chuckle, Sean grabbed the shell with both hands and started to pull, gently at first, but after that failed, he put a little more force into it.</p><p>"Sean, what are you doing?" Marine asked through gritted teeth, tugging his shoulder. "We've already seen everything here... let's go outside. This place is so confined, I don't feel safe here."</p><p>"That's okay... I'll be going soon, you can wait for me outside! I just... ughh... wanna take this with me! As a memory!" he explained, grunting as he put more effort into the task in hand. The shell was too stuck inside the wall, probably because of the effect of the solidification of the gray mass; anyone who was a little more rational would probably have already gave up by that point, but Sean didn't want to.</p><p>"No way, I'm not leaving you here all by yourself. If you want this thing so much... fine, I'll help you. I just hope nothing bad happens..." </p><p>Marine also put her hands around the shell and began pulling as hard as Sean, and with the combined efforts of the two, soon it was out of the wall, around Sean's hand; nevermind that all that force had caused him to be pushed against the other wall, he was laughing as he stared at the object he was holding.</p><p>"Wow, it's... so cool! I want to keep it with me forever... I love it so much! Thanks, Marine!"</p><p>"You're welcome, now let's--"</p><p>Whatever she was going to say next was interrupted by a small sound coming from the wall in front of them; looking at it, the two noticed spiderweb-like cracks beginning to run up the gray cement, starting from the empty hole where Sean's shell previously was. The Gem and the boy eyed each other with concern.</p><p>"We... messed up bad, didn't we?" Sean said softly.</p><p>"Sean. <em>Run</em>."</p><p>Before he could actually think about obeying the command, Marine grabbed him by the hand and began running with him herself; Sean held on tightly to his shell with his other hand, careful not to hit it. The more they ran, the more rocks started collapsing behind them, and the more afraid Sean grew. And then just as they got to the entrance, Marine was quick to throw Sean, alongside his shell and the device, out through the hole, before the entire cave went down.</p><p>"Marine! Nooooo!" Sean shouted, staring at the debris and raising smoke. "I'm so sorry, this is my fault! I shouldn't have took this shell away, it was fine just the way it was! Now I destroyed the whole cave, and I don't even know where you are and if you are okay!"</p><p>Sweating, the boy jumped over the fallen rocks, beginning to use his hands to dig around them in searches for Marine, or at least, her gem. When he was about to look around two large ones, something rose up between them, making him let out a shriek of surprise and fall backwards, before noticing it was Marine, all bruised and coughing.</p><p>"Marine! You're here!" he exclaimed. "A-are you hurt? Is your g-gem okay?"</p><p>"D... d-don't worry, it's... fine..." she reassured him with a weak voice, showing him the intact pearl on her palm. </p><p>"I-I'm so glad... I-I'll help you o-out..."</p><p>He extended his hand to her and she took it. In the end, Sean was the one who made the most effort to pull her out, as her feeble state wouldn't allow her to do so without poofing. When she was finally out, Marine couldn't even stand, instead just staying with both knees and hands to the floor.</p><p>"Marine, I'm so sorry... it's my fault you're hurt like this now..." Sean said, holding her hand, with tears starting to form on his eyes.</p><p>"Sean... d-don't blame yourself, t-this... isn't your f-fault..." She managed to give him a small smile, but it was not comforting since all he could focus on were how tired her eyes looked and all the bruises on her face. As he said nothing, Marine wiped away his tears with her fingers before they could roll down his cheeks. "L-listen, Sean... i-in this state, I-I won't last much, but... y-you've got that d-device with you, h-haven't you?"</p><p>Holding back tears, Sean nodded and took the device from a bit far away, showing it to Marine.</p><p>"G-good... t-take my gem and use t-the device to get b-back to the others."</p><p>"W-what? No! I-I don't want you to poof! I can't... do this without you! Please!"</p><p>"I'm sorry... y-you'll have to. I-I know you can do t-this... you're smart, and s-strong... I believe in you--"</p><p>Sean hugged Marine. Hesitating a bit, she eventually gave in and hugged him back. Slowly, with neither of them even noticing in the moment's emotions, their bodies began to merge into light and instead of the two who were hugging on the floor, a new individual appeared, standing with their pair of arms around their torso. </p><p>The first thing they did was let out a relieving laugh and stretch their arms out, with their fingers interlaced.</p><p>"Ah, yes... the show must go on! Am I right? Why should we have to do this alone if we can be together like <em>this</em>!" the fusion exclaimed, opening their eyes to look around. Despite their disappointment at the lack (or rather, complete absence) of any spectators around, they kept their smile on their face. "No audience, huh? But that's around... after all, I'm Calcite, and my entire essence is never being alone!"</p><p>Calcite stared down at the device and the shell lying on the floor near them, and promptly summoned a blue rod, boosting the items up and grabbing them on midair.</p><p>"Alright then! I guess that it's back to where the others are now... but first..." </p><p>Calcite brought the shiny shell close enough to their face so that it would reflect on it like a mirror, and flashed a beam. They possessed an androgynous appearance, with plain white skin and Marine's pointy nose, as well as shoulder length, wavy light blonde hair and a pair of large light blue eyes. Their smile shone as brightly as Sean's, while still having Marine's precision and grace.  </p><p>Looking down, they noticed that Sean's tightly-fitting gray shirt was actually too loose on their slender build, exposing the gem on their navel, but his equally gray pants were fitting, though more as shorts than actual pants, and Marine's flat shoes were also the right size.</p><p>"Tsk, tsk... how unfortunate. An appearance full of gray, gray, gray... it's a nice color, but everything that is repetitive gets boring, I'm sure even people such as <em>them</em> can agree. I can only hope that one day I'll be able to mix more colors into my outfit..." Calcite put the shell back inside the pocket of their pants, before focusing all their attention on the device. "But now! Let's see this... let's follow the direction the arrow points to!"</p><p>And thus they began walking all the way back to where the spaceship was, looking forward to their first (it felt weird saying first since Calcite had clear memories of interacting with them, even if it wasn't really <em>them</em>) meeting with all the others. Thoughts of what would happen, what the others would say and how they would respond took over them, prompting them to laugh and spin around in excitement, expecting all of it to go off.</p><p>"Oh, yes, guys, that's right... I'm a fusion. It was not that hard to fuse... it was like the blink of an eye! I wasn't there... and then suddenly, I was! Isn't it a beautiful concept, fusion? Makes me glad to be one..." they blabbered to themselves, making excessive gesture and being sure to use anything on their surroundings on their favor, like jumping on the rocks to add a touch to their performance.</p><p>Their journey back to the ship would have taken even less time if they hadn't spent most of it being fascinated by everything around or building these "plays" on their mind, but either way, Calcite arrived back on the base. They were met with the sight of the three petalites who Sean had nicknamed, analyzing things on test tubes with masks. Chuckling to themselves, Calcite approached them.</p><p>"Hello there, little ones!" they greeted them with a wave. "Still working, I see! Very nice. Keep up the good work!"</p><p>The three turned around to look, but as soon as they did so, they immediately dropped whatever items they were holding, to stare in shock at the figure in front of them. In response, Calcite simply winked and blew them a kiss, before turning around and entering the ship.</p><p>"Greetings, my dear... how nice to finally meet you properly!" Calcite exclaimed, staring at Olive's shocked gaze.</p><p>"Wait, wait a second! Marine? Sean? You..." she started, her expression going from confusion to realization as she trailed off.</p><p>"That's right! The name's Calcite... Sean and Marine's fusion. So? What do you think about my look?"</p><p>"Woah, you look great! I seriously can't believe it!" Laughing, Olive got up from her seat and walked over to Calcite, giving them a bone-crushing hug and lifting them up by their arms. "Just look at you, haha! You're actually here, and you're amazing! I won't lie... I'm curious to hear the story. I mean, I always thought Marine wasn't about fusion, and Sean was always so shy about the topic!"</p><p>She then sat back down, placing Calcite right next to her, both grinning at each other.</p><p>"So, tell me. Tell me everything!"</p><p>"Sure thing! Believe it or not... it was all because of <em>this</em>." Calcite took the shell out of their pocket, showing it to Olive. "Sean was a little clumsy and ended up getting him and Marine in trouble over this... well, basically, he brought an entire cave down. Marine ended up hurt when trying to save him, so in the end... they fused so she wouldn't poof! Stunning, right?"</p><p>"Definitely... wow, I still can barely believe it! Calcite... it's a nice name, fits you. So, do you have any powers?"</p><p>"Actually, I didn't test... there would be no point in that without an audience!" Calcite rose from the bench and stood in front of Olive. "But now that you're here, I can demonstrate everything!"</p><p>Before Calcite had a chance to manifest any kind of power, Tiger came inside the ship; immediately, Olive also got up from her seat and approached Calcite in a defensive manner. With her mouth open like she was about to say something, Tiger stared at the fusion with a mix of shock and disgust on her face.</p><p>"Oops... seems like we have more... unexpected audience?" Calcite said with a nervous smile, right before their body morphed back into light, and two other bodies were thrown away, each in one of the sides of the rooms.</p><p>"O-oh... oh, no! M-Marine!" Sean screamed out, darting his eyes around before running to the other side of the room and falling on his knees, staring at the gemstone on the floor. "Noooooo!"</p><p>"What is happening here?!" Tiger shouted from the door.</p><p>"What are <em>you</em> doing here?" Olive retorted, glaring at her and ready to summon her weapon if needed.</p><p>"I came to see what was all that noise, and then I find <em>this</em> scene?! You... all of you are just <em>pathetic</em>." Tiger hissed to them before turning around and leaving again.</p><p>Olive let out a sigh before turning her attention back to Sean, who was now holding Marine's gem and letting his tears fall over it. She approached him before crouching down to his level and patted him on the back.</p><p>"Don't worry, Sean... it'll be alright. I know you did the best you could, and... she's going to reform soon, and I'm sure she'll be very happy with you. I'm also very proud."</p><p>"O-okay..."</p><p>Sean wiped away his tears, and carefully placed Marine's gem over a table, right next to the shell.</p><p>He wasn't sure if he'd be able to sleep after that.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>CAN WE GET AN F IN THE CHAT FOR MARINE NOW--<br/>Okay, enough jokes now. I was really looking forward to writing this chapter, I'm glad I could get it out! The following ones will also be important!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Found and Lost</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Olive decides to go for a walk with Sean to cheer him up.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>aahhhh it's long chapter time bois.<br/>This chapter and the precious one were my favorites to write (SO FAR--), but among the 2 I'd say it's this one, since this one is a bit longer, and also has more stuff going on.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Hey, for how long are you going to keep doing this?"</p><p>Sean barely heard what Olive had said, but out of instinct, forced his head to turn towards her. Even if he could get his bloodshot eyes to be fully open, he wouldn't have been able to see her image properly anyway, with how blurry his vision was; all of that just contributed to making Olive wonder how he could do his exercises in that state.</p><p>"I'm not an expert in humans, much less <em>half</em>-humans, but... in <em>this</em> state, you won't be able to stay awake for long. You're going to collapse, Sean." she said, her tone showing concern. "Really. You don't need to do this."</p><p>"But I should..." Sean muttered as loud as he could, his words slurring into one another. "When she comes back... I wanna make her proud of me... she wanted this..."</p><p>"Oh, I can assure you with all the confidence in the universe that Marine did <em>not</em> want you to overwork yourself into a human on the verge of death," Olive retorted, crossing her arms as Sean rubbed his bleary eyes and let out a yawn. "When was the last time you slept? 3 days ago?"</p><p>"U-uh, don't remember..." He used his finger to write on the screen of the tablet, and due to falling asleep on the spot for one moment, ended up tracing a long line all over the white. "O-oops, I should... e-erase this."</p><p>Tired of all that, Olive rose to her feet without hesitating and marched over to Sean, who only noticed she was right by his side a few seconds after she arrived. Looking up at her, the boy saw she still had her arms crossed and had a rather angry expression, but the lack of thoughts going through his head kept him from processing or understanding that.</p><p>"That's it. Marine is gone, but that doesn't mean nobody will take care of you. I'm doing this on my own way."</p><p>As soon as he realized, Sean was now being pulled away from the bench he was sitting on by Olive, who was taking him outside the ship.</p><p>"W-where are we g-going?" he asked.</p><p>"To walk around. You need it, after three days of burying your head inside that stupid tablet and all those problems." Olive said, her voice stoic. "And don't try to offer any resistance, I won't just stand and watch you torture yourself like that."</p><p>"B-but I was about to finish q-question 187..." Sean mumbled to himself, trailing off with a sigh.</p><p>Olive let go of him as soon as they were outside, and the boy took a look around. To his surprise, he noticed the petalites right by the side of the ship, surrounding a large hole all with protection masks; but what caught his attention was that they were all holding <em>a super large drill inside the hole</em>. Sean had to rub his eyes again to make sure he wasn't hallucinating; perhaps it was the lack of sleep getting to him, but when he stared again and blinked, the same scene was going on in front of him. He looked up at Olive, who just nodded.</p><p>"W-woah, you g-guys have a giant d-drill?" he asked them, taking a step forwards.</p><p>"Woah, you're back alive?" Pad asked, lifting her mask to show a surprised expression.</p><p>"I-I am... I-I mean, I n-never died."</p><p>"We thought you did. After all, you disappeared for three days." Gold remarked. "Also, yes, we're using this drill to try and see the planet's internal structure. Obviously, just with this we can't get far... but anything would be worth it."</p><p>"Can I see?"</p><p>They nodded, and Sean approached them and looked down the hole, careful not to fall. To his surprise, under all that pile of orange rock were some dark gray crystal-like structures spiking up. In some angles, he could even see them shining a faint light.</p><p>"Beautiful crystals..." he said. "G-good luck on this mission. L-let me know if you f-find anything cool later..."</p><p>He walked back to Olive, and putting her hand on his back, she led him to a direction, the opposite of the one he had taken with Marine before. At first, the walk was silent, but after he started becoming more awake, Sean started chatting with her.</p><p>"Olive," he started. "How long does it take for a Gem to reform?"</p><p>"Oh, you can't really say for sure... it depends a lot from Gem to Gem." Olive explained. "Some take just hours, but some can take even months to reform... it varies depending on the injury, too. I mean, the whole purpose of retreating to our gems is so we can spend our energy fixing our physical forms..."</p><p>"And... w-what do you think would happen if <em>I</em> got seriously hurt?" Sean asked, lifting his shirt to look at his gem. "I-I mean, would I poof or what?"</p><p>"That's... a good question. And sadly, I don't think I have a good answer. You're not like an ordinary Gem, and you're not like an ordinary human either... your body isn't made of light, it's actual matter. I don't think you can go inside your gem."</p><p>"You're probably right..." Sean agreed. "When I was walking with Marine... we were talking about the possibility of life existing here. What do you think about it?"</p><p>"Honestly, I'd say it's possible. Life just never fails on amazing me... life like you and me. If both of us can create extraordinary things, then why can't another kind of life thrive here? There <em>must</em> be something out there that can adapt to this place's condition."</p><p>"You're right! We can't be fully sure if there is life here, but... if there was, it'd be cool to see." Sean agreed. He then suddenly realized he was still holding his tablet on his hand. "Hey, I... wonder if this thing has a camera option. I'd like to take some pictures of this place... so I could remember it, even show it to my Dad!"</p><p>"Ha, I'm terrible at those tech things... try fiddling around with it, I'm sure you'll find something. If there even is anything, that is."</p><p>Sean nodded and started tapping the tablet's screen in search of any camera; however, all he managed to do was get into the code Marine had used to make all the questions appear, almost deleting all his progress of almost 187 questions done in 3 days and giving himself a heart attack. </p><p>"Hey, doing this reminds me... you got that device that tells us the location of the ship, right?" he asked.</p><p>"Yup, don't worry... I've got it right here." She lifted it up to show him. "But we don't need it... I mean, all we're doing is walk on a straight line! When we want to go back, all we have to do is turn around and walk!"</p><p>"Yeah, you're right." Sean continued messing around with the tablet's settings before finally giving up with a loud sigh. "I don't think there's any camera here... b-but it wouldn't make sense if there was, anyway. This was just supposed to be a bunch of questions for me to answer..."</p><p>Olive came to an abrupt stop and Sean walked a few steps ahead before realizing and turning around.</p><p>"Olive? What happened?"</p><p>"Hey, Sean, check this out!" She crouched down to the floor and grabbed a piece of the planet's orange rock, shaped like a bat; Sean hadn't even noticed it was there before, due to his sleepness and also because it had the same color as the rest of the floor.</p><p>"Woah, it's like a bat! So cool!" Sean ran up to her and touched it with his fingers. </p><p>"Hey, Sean..." Olive started, giving him a smirk. "Are you up to a little spar? It's been a while since we've had one of those. I think it'd help you."</p><p>"Okay, sure!" he agreed and lifted both of his open palms, and Olive let the stone bat fall over them; for a second, Sean almost let the bat bring his hands down to the floor with its weight, but he was able to recompose himself and wielded it properly. "I'm ready!"</p><p>"Give me all you've got!"</p><p>As Olive pulled her sword out of her gem, Sean focused on each of her movements, as small as they were, to try preparing himself for when she attacked. Over the years, it had always been like that; Olive attacked, Sean defended himself. The main purpose of the sparring sessions they made was to teach Sean self-defense in case he were ever attacked and there was nobody around to protect him; there was no reason for him to learn offensive techniques, even if sometimes Olive thought they might come in handy. Even so, Sean didn't remember ever using an attack during the practice; he was one to believe that you could win a fight just defending yourself.</p><p>When she came wielding her sword towards him, Sean immediately lifted the rock bat up, blocking the attack with it; Olive smiled and jumped back, ready for her next move; Sean waited. She then brought her sword down, its edge pointing right at him, and Sean brought the bat down too in response, holding it as firmly as he could to make sure the impact wouldn't make him hit himself with his own weapon. Naturally, Olive came sprinting in his direction, but few seconds before the two objects would collide against each other, she lifted her sword, and with widened eyes, Sean jumped away to the side on the last second.</p><p>He hit the right side of his face against the literally stone-hard floor, bat still in hand. As this was just training, Olive stood there waiting for the boy to get up and get ready to keep fighting again. When he was prepared, Sean then nodded, and once again, Olive ran up to him with her sword shining with light; Sean made sure not to take his eyes away from her weapo or even blink, and at the last second, when he was 100% sure where she would attack, he positioned his stone bat over his forehead, clashing the weapons against each other. This time, the Gem didn't back away and continued applying pressure against him.</p><p>Sean started feeling sweat rolling down his face as he occasionally let out small grunts; he was now holding each edge of the bat with one hand, putting all the strength he could muster into pushing it up, and still, he had his back curved with the sheer force she was putting into it, and was getting closer to the floor every second. Then Sean felt something hitting his right leg hard, and with a squeak, he fell with his back against the floor and after opening his eyes, saw Olive pointing the edge of her sword right at his gem; even fully trusting her, the thought was still disturbing, and the boy swallowed.</p><p>"You shouldn't just dodge the attacks or use your weapon to block them. Actually... you <em>can't</em>." Olive said. "If you just keep using the same moves over and over again in a real battle, they'll take advantage of that. They'll use your own actions against you... and they won't have any mercy."</p><p>Unsure of what to say, Sean just nodded. Olive made her sword disappear and extended her hand to him, and Sean took it and used it to get up.</p><p>"Alright! You learned at least one new thing about battles during this trip... now I can properly rest." Olive said with a sigh of relief. "So, do you want to go back or do you want to continue walking?"</p><p>"I-I want to keep going a little more, please!"</p><p>"Heh, fine then. Curious as always!" Olive laughed, ruffling Sean's hair.</p><p>So they continued walking for some more time. During a certain moment, Sean had his head turned to the left to admire a rock mountain, when out of the blue, Olive grabbed his shoulder with such force that he almost fell to the ground.</p><p>"W-woah!" he exclaimed.</p><p>"Sorry! But look at this, you'll go nuts when you see it!"</p><p>Sean looked at the direction she was pointing at, and let out the possibly loudest gasp he had ever produced his whole life, putting his hands on his face so hard it made a slapping sound. Right there, in front of him, was something that weren't rocks, or caves or lakes: it was a group of <em>giant birds</em>. They were moving.</p><p>"Giant birds! Oh my gosh, there is actual life here! I knew it!" Sean exclaimed, alternating glances between Olive and the birds. "Oooh... they're so big, they're like... two, maybe even three Seans tall! Wow, this is so amazing! I wish I had a camera with me right now!"</p><p>"There's a lot of them, too... and it seems like they haven't noticed us yet." </p><p>Just as Sean started wondering how the animals managed to live there, he noticed that there was a brown lake next to where they were, and some were drinking of it.</p><p>"Maybe that water has everything they need to survive... I should really try drinking it some time." Sean remarked. "Hey... can we get closer to them? Pleeeease?"</p><p>"Sure, just be careful not to end up angering one of them... and stay right by my side."</p><p>Taking slow steps, the two began approaching the animals; even as Sean and Olive were among them, none of the birds paid any mind and just continued their routine normally, ignoring them.</p><p>"See, they're friendly! They don't really mind us!" Sean exclaimed, spreading his arms, making Olive let out a chuckle. "Hm? What is it?"</p><p>"Nothing... it's just really good seeing you happy again after so long. I think this is the first time I've seen you smile since the accident!" she replied, patting him on the head.</p><p>"I think this is the first time I smiled since the accident!" he confirmed, and let out a few snickers himself. "Hey, I just thought... maybe I can't photograph them, but I could draw them! I mean, there is a space here that was reserved for me to make the calculations... but I could use it to draw!"</p><p>"Good idea! Have fun with it."</p><p>"I will!" </p><p>Putting his tablet over his face, Sean started doing a sketch of the birds' body while staring at one of them and trying to memorize all the details for reference. Shivers went through his body as he realized just how large the claws of the birds' feet were, not even wanting to imagine what it'd feel like to be grabbed by those.</p><p>"Hey, Olive, take a look, what do you th--"</p><p>Before Sean could finish his sentence, the tablet was snatched from his hands with such speed and force that it took him a second to process what had happened; one of the giant creatures, right in front of him, now had his tablet right on its beak, attempting to chew it.</p><p>"H-hey, that's m-my tablet! Can you p-please let me t-take it back--" The bird's response to the polite request was to give the boy a death glare accompanied by a squeak so loud that Sean brought his hands to his now-ringing ears.</p><p>And, to further amplify his distress, as he turned around, he noticed that all the other birds had similar looks on their faces and were beginning to surround Sean and Olive in a circle. As the animals took a step forwards, the two took one backwards, until their backs were touching.</p><p>"Ah! W-what do we do?" Sean asked with his voice shaking, shooting Olive a worried look.</p><p>"Stay close to me." Olive replied with a firm tone, her features stern.</p><p>When Sean caught the glimpse of the birds bringing their sharp beaks forward, he instinctively brought his hands in front of his face, as if it would matter; but the attack never hit him, as on the last second, Olive seized him by his shirt and jumped. While they were on air, she held him close to his chest, and he hugged her before both of them landed on the ground, away from the group of birds.</p><p>"T-they've got my t-tablet! I need to get it b-back!" Sean said, extending his hand.</p><p>All at once, the birds turned to where they were and started sprinting on their direction; probably without thinking about it much, Sean jumped, landing on the back of one of the birds, and careful not to fall down, started looking through the crowd to see if he could spot this tablet. It didn't take long for the bird he was standing on to realize this fact, and it started shaking its body to cause Sean to fall down.</p><p>"Come on, Sean! Take my hand!" Olive shouted while extending her hand to him, also standing over a bird's back, but having more control over the animal than Sean.</p><p>"O-okay... w-wah!" Sean slipped and fell, but before he could hit the ground, he managed to hold on to the bird's neck. "I'm s-scared! I-I'm going to fall!"</p><p>"No, you're not! C'mon... I know you can do this. Get up!"</p><p>"A-alright! I'll do it!" Even though he ended up almost slipping more than one time, after some seconds, Sean was back up on the bird's back, shaking a lot. "B-but you're too far away, I c-can't reach you!"</p><p>"Yeah, you'll have to jump! I'll catch you! Do you trust me?"</p><p>"I do! I-I'll jump!"</p><p>After taking a deep breath, Sean did the best he could to pick up momentum before jumping as high as he could, all while screaming; when his hand finally interlaced with Olive's, she pulled his body closer and once again they ended up hugging each other. However, the impact caused both of them to fall down to the ground and start rolling until they ended up collapsing against a small rock.</p><p>They were moaning in pain, but when they realized that they were right by each other and still holding each other's hands, Sean and Olive couldn't help but start laughing at the absurdity of it all; how could they even begin explaining that to Marine when she reformed? Sean, now with tears on the corners of his eyes from laughing too much, embraced Olive, who returned the action.</p><p>And among the laughter, both their bodies turned into pure white light and intertwined against each other, and as soon as the colors were back, only one individual remained, lying on the ground and laughing, with happy tears streaming down their face.</p><p>"Oohh... that was so hilarious, when you... I mean, I... we?..." The fusion sat up, with wide eyes, and started scratching their chin before staring down at their four hands. "Waaait a minute! Does this mean we... I... I'm a fusion! But that means I need a name! Let's see, hmm... a fusion between Sean and Olive... I'd say Andesine is a fitting name!"</p><p>Andesine rose to their feet with a bright smile on their face, but it didn't last long, vanishing as soon as they noticed the pack of furious birds staring at them from afar. They let out a gasp, using their superior pair of hands to grab the sides of their faces.</p><p>"Uh-oh! Not a good time, I reckon! You guys certainly don't seem to happy about all this, haha..." Andesine's eyes widened as they noticed a rather familiar object on the beak of one of the birds. "Oooh, that's right, Sean's tablet! I guess I'm supposed to try retrieving it! Alright, here I come!"</p><p>Andesine began running in the direction of the birds, taking advantage of their stunned state due to their surprise, and with a single leap, landed right over the back of one of them. Putting their hand over their forehead, as if it would actually enhance their vision, Andesine started looking for whatever bird was in possession of the tablet, while jumping from animal to animal.</p><p>"Tablet, tablet, tablet... do you have a tablet? Oh, no, that's a rock, not a tablet. Let's see, tablet... oh! Tablet! Right there!" Finally spotting their target away on the distance, Andesine grinned and started making their way towards it. "Target... lock in!"</p><p>They ended up landing on one of the bird's tall legs and embraced it to make sure they wouldn't fall, even as the creature started squawking and shaking its body in futile attempts. Andesine looked up to see the precious tablet, still sticking out of the bird's closed beak; this was not just just a little inconvenience anymore, this was now a serious fight over who would end up keeping the item.</p><p>"Alright, bring it on, birdie!" Andesine joked and grabbed the tablet with their superior pair of hands, leaving only their inferior pair and legs holding on to the bird. </p><p>In response to that, the creature started flapping its enormous wings, and as soon as Andesine realized, they were flying; from how high up they were, all the other birds seemed quite small, and they could even spot some rocks and mountains in the distance.</p><p>"Oh, wow... so cool! I can the see whole place from here!" Andesine exclaimed with shining eyes. But being distracted by the beautiful view ended up making their grip on the bird become looser, and soon, they were falling from the sky. "Woah! Wait, what's going on? I'm fall--"</p><p>A loud splash was heard as they hit the rather shallow bottom of one of the brown lakes. Just a few seconds after that, the figure of Olive rose up, soaked in the liquid, and coughing.</p><p>"Oh, what just happened?! This is disgusting!" she growled while trying to slap the substance off her body. "That was a good shot, but I can't believe we lost this opportunity over something like this... right, Sean? Sean?"</p><p>She looked all around her in search for the boy, but there was absolutely no half-human half-Gem boy sitting up like her. But when as Olive noticed a very small part of a finger sticking up from inside the liquid still, she didn't hesitate to dive in and pull him up. As soon as Sean's body found itself out of the brown liquid, he took a large breath that sounded more like a gasp, filling his lungs with the oxygen he had been yearning for, before coughing for a good minute.</p><p>"M-Marine was r-right," he managed to choke out between coughs. "T-this doesn't taste like chocolate milk a-at all... a-and it's so heavy, t-the pressure was too much for me t-to get up..."</p><p>"Here... let's get out of here."</p><p>With a bit of effort, Olive walked out of the lake, sitting down on the rock ground near it and placing Sean next to her.</p><p>"But, hey, even though we were chased and attacked by a bunch of blood-thirsty birds, I potentially lost my tablet and we ended up landing in a brown lake... <em>we fused</em>! And it was super great!" Sean shouted, laughing with shining eyes.</p><p>"I know, right! I loved being Andesine with you... we should introduce them to Marine when she reforms." Olive said. "But, anyway... I think this is enough adventures for today. We should start heading back."</p><p>And so they did. As soon as they arrived, both sat on one of the benches and started talking about the experience they had just had, until they suddenly noticed a sound and a light coming from their side. Looking there, Sean noticed that Marine's gem was glowing!</p><p>"Oh! I think it's the time, I think she's ready!" he shouted and jumped out of the bench to hold the gem. "Should I hold her to show my support?! Or should I just smile and wave to show how maturely and naturally I took all of this?!"</p><p>"Just leave her there... she can do everything by herself, you just watch." Olive chuckled.</p><p>"Okay!"</p><p>With care, Sean placed Marine's gem on the floor in front of him, giving it a light tap before retreating a few steps and watching as it started floating on the air and a mass of light formed around it, eventually gaining an humanoid shape. As soon as it landed on the ground, colors filled it, showing the figure of Marine, with her eyes closed, as she placed her spread arms gently on her sides.</p><p>"Marine, you're back, I'm so glad! I missed you so much!" Sean screamed and ran towards her, hugging her so hard that she almost fell backwards with a yelp. "You won't believe what happened while you were gone! I finished 186 and a half questions of the math problems you prepared me! But I can't show it to you now, because Olive and I were attacked by a group of vicious birds and one of them stole my tablet, so we had to fuse into Andesine to survive!" he blurted out so quickly his words slurred into one another, his smile never leaving his face.</p><p>"O-oh... seems like a lot of things happened while I was gone, indeed!" Marine said after recovering from being startled, ruffling Sean's hair.</p><p>"Welcome back." Olive greeted, now by Marine's side.</p><p>"Thanks. Also... I'd really like an explanation to this 'surviving the attack of vicious birds' thing later, thank you." Marine said, whispering the last part.</p><p>"But anyway, now that you're here, you need to see our super cool and strong fusion, Andesine!" Sean announced, letting go of her and holding Olive's hand. "Let's go, Olive, let's show her!"</p><p>"Sure!"</p><p>Marine watched as the two improvised a dance on the spot (if them goofing around could even be called a <em>dance</em>) until their bodies merged and a sole individual, Andesine, stood. They smiled to her and waved with one of their hands.</p><p>"Uh, hey there, Marine!" Andesine said awkwardly; Marine quickly realized that they weren't the best at initiating conversations, or perhaps it was just with first meetings, but that didn't stop her from smiling back at them.</p><p>"Oh, look at you! You two really are fused!" she said, taking a step closer to them and touching their short, wavy black hair. "This is wonderful! Unlike me, this probably wasn't Olive's first time fusing, so I assume things went a little more... organized. It's Andesine, yes?"</p><p>"Yep, that's right... that's my name."</p><p>"Alright, Andesine! Come here!" Taking the fusion by one hand, Marine led them to a bench and both of them sat down, facing each other. "Now that you're here, we can talk. You must already know everything about me, and I'm not the main subject here, after all... so let's talk about you."</p><p>"Ha, talk about me? I'm not too sure if there's anything to say... I mean, I'm Sean and Olive's fusion. That's it. I don't think I've been around enough to actually, you know... develop myself?"</p><p>"Oh, yes, that's right! That was such a silly thing to ask... we can talk about another thing, then." Marine sighed and then looked back at Andesine. "Mind explaining me exactly what was this whole putting your life in danger thing?"</p><p>Andesine swallowed, a dropof sweat rolling down their forehead. This would take some long explaining.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Right now I think we only have 2 more chapters until the end! Enjoy the rest of this trip, because I know I will too :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Family</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sean brings his family together.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Did I just post the probably two longest chapters of this story on two CONSECUTIVE days?<br/>I think I did. I don't know what happened to me to make me so creative and productive all of a sudden, but... take it, I guess XD</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>"So, how do I look?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He got up from the chair he was sitting and spun around, showing off his look to his only expectator, the pearl, who stared expectantly at him with her hands interlaced and a smile on her face.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Oh, you look graceful and perfect just like always!" she replied without missing a beat.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"But are you saying that because you really think it... or are you saying it because you think you should?" he retorted, trying to hide the little smirk that threatened to show itself. "Hurt my feelings, don't hurt my trust."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I'd never lie to you! If I ever did... I would be worthy of a punishment!" the pearl said.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Okay, but if I looked bad, would you really blurt it out to my face?" he challenged her again.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The pearl opened her mouth to speak, but no words left, and for the following seconds she just stood there awkwardly, pupils and lips shaking. She had probably never thought of this before; and in fact, it was a paradox. Pearls had been made to serve and value their owner more than anything else, so should they always be brutally honest or hide everything for their owner's contentment? Should they lie, or should they insult them?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He had to admit, seeing her look like that, as if her mind would break at any instant was making him very uncomfortable.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Okay, knowing you... I think you'd probably sugarcoat it. This way, you wouldn't have to lie nor insult me." he spoke up on her behalf, to which she vigorously nodded.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"If you wanted me to, I could sugarcoat it!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>At the robotic response, he only sighed and turned away.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Is... everything alright</em>
  <em>? Did I do something to upset you?" the pearl asked quietly from behind him, the previous cheerfulness having left her voice.</em>
</p><p><em>"No, it's... not you. It's just that..." He sat back on the chair, facing away from the table and mirror. "I want to be perfect for </em>him<em>. But... what if I just can't? I mean... he's a </em>human<em>, for stars' sake! I'm not a human, I'll never be! Maybe we were never meant to be together, but I just can't help but keep thinking of him. I won't give up on this, it's the only thing that actually brings me real happiness, and I've already come so far... but sometimes it's really frustrating."</em></p><p>
  <em>The pearl stayed quiet for some time, and because of her 'programming', he figured that she must have been thinking of something to do or say to relieve his grief.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"...Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" Her response indicated that she herself hadn't been able to think of anything, so instead she had opted to ask her master for an answer.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He shook his head, before giving her a sad smile.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"No, but thanks for the offer... this is something I have to deal with myself."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He turned around on the chair to look at the mirror.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And then he saw it. His face.</em>
</p><p>Her<em> face.</em></p><p>
  <em>***</em>
</p><p>Sean woke up with a gasp so loud it was almost a scream, and the only reason he didn't fall on the ground was because Marine pulled him closer.</p><p>"Sean! What happened?! Are you alright?!" she yelled, shaking him with worry.</p><p>For some time he just stared at her face, wordless, until he remembered, Marine had indeed come back the previous day. Waking up with her by his side again would normally be comforting, but not after what he had just seen.</p><p>"I had a dream!" he wheezed, sitting up and not even bothering to tidy his messy hair up or anything. "I guess it was more like a... vision? But I saw something, something important!"</p><p>"You had a vision? Don't tell me that you mother was actually a sapphire," Olive joked from the bench in front of the one Sean and Marine were on.</p><p>"No, no! At least I don't think so... b-but anyway! It did have to do with my Mom!" Sean explained. "Y-you see, I... I've been having very strange dreams lately! Ever since the day we left, my dreams changed! I've been seeing... stories, sets of events that actually make sense... like I'm seeing someone else's memories, through their point of view."</p><p>Marine and Olive remained silent as he talked, both with confused expressions.</p><p>"I didn't tell you because there was nothing I could do, and I wasn't even sure if they were real... but now I am! I-in the dream I just had, I... l-looked into a mirror, and... I-I saw my Mom!" he blurted the words that had been stuck on his throat for so long, starting to pant after it. Thinking about it, he was actually covered in sweat behind those tight pajamas.</p><p>After Sean said that, Marine gave Olive a concerned look, clasping her hands together.</p><p>"Do you think that all this traumatic experiences have been affecting his mental health? I knew something like this would happen!" she cried out before covering her face with her hands. "Oh, Sean, you had never been through something like this! You were always so happy and unworried when you were safe inside the ship... I'm so sorry!"</p><p>"No! I'm okay, I'm not hallucinating or anything! What I saw was real... I know it was! I-I don't know how, b-but... I <em>know</em> it was!"</p><p>He could feel it that from the way they looked at him, they didn't fully believe him. Sean deflated. There was no logical reason for the dreams to actually be his mother's memories, he knew, but a feeling was telling him they were, and he just couldn't convince himself otherwise.</p><p>"Maybe Marine's right... maybe you just, I don't know... miss being in that room of hers or something? You love that place." Olive suggested, then shrugged. "Ah, I have no idea. I don't know anything about dreaming stuff. Why don't you tell us what you saw with details?"</p><p>"D-during the first one... I was walking down a hallway of the ship, and I know I really wanted something. Then, during the second one... a-ah, it was the worst... I felt really, really angry, I felt something I had never felt before... I was destroying everything in a room, then I started crying... and there was a pearl with me. She comforted me." Sean started, trying his best to remember as much as he could from the previous dreams. "And then, in this one, I think I ws getting ready to meet someone important, a human, and the pearl was there too, helping me. And I told her I was sad because maybe I shouldn't be with this person, but he made me happy. Then I looked into the mirror and I saw her!"</p><p>Olive nodded at Sean after he finished his speech, then gazed at Marine, who was now sitting curved, with her elbows on her knees, holding her hands over her mouth.</p><p>"I don't know, I guess those do sound too detailed to be just imagination," she remarked with another shrug. "I mean... Sean does have Azurite's gem. Maybe her memories are in there somewhere?"</p><p>"But Sean isn't Azurite! This shouldn't be happening... Sean should live his own life, not just reliving Azurite's life! This isn't fine, this isn't normal!" Marine said, passing her hands through her hair.</p><p>"I didn't say Sean is Azurite. But it's a fact that he does, indeed, have her gem! We don't truly know what that implies... maybe memory-dreaming or whatever term we'll use to refer to it is a consequence! We just need to wait and see!"</p><p>Sean's eyes darted from one to another, as they spoke ignoring the fact that he, the main subject, was right there. But what he was worried about was the fact that they were starting to create an argument. Sean had no idea what he could do to stop them effectively, so instead, he just stood up on the bench and spread his arms, bringing all their attention to him.</p><p>"Let's go on a walk together, the three of us!" Sean shouted the first words that came to his mind instantly without even thinking them through.</p><p>"What? Sean, we're... in the middle of a serious conversation. About you." Marine said.</p><p>"I-I know, but... we don't need to talk here! We can go outside, it's fresher and... more open! It'll make all of us feel better!" he argued, jumping out of the bench and going outside while gesturing for them to follow.</p><p>Almost reluctantly, they did so, and Sean noticed the petalites right by his side; they know had some of the crystals from the inside of the planet outside and were examining them.</p><p>"Hey, guys, nice crystals! Good work, keep it up!" he told them with a smile.</p><p>"Well, thanks, Sean." Gold replied.</p><p>"I have an idea!" Sean told Marine and Olive, turning to them. "We could go on the same direction that Olive and I went yesterday! So maybe we can even find my tablet!"</p><p>"I guess that's a nice idea. But I swear, if we still can't get it back today, this is all I'll be talking about for the next thousand years." Olive said. Sean giggled at her words at first, but stopped as soon as he realized she was serious.</p><p>"In this case... let's just go." Marine agreed.</p><p>They walked for a while, and for the first time, Sean was glad that nobody was speaking. Maybe they had forgotten about the earlier discussion already, or maybe they just didn't want to ruin his clear happiness to be walking with both of them; it was a little awkward, sure, but there was no tension in the air, at least so he thought.</p><p>Sean gasped when the group of birds was finally visible from the distance. Marine squinted her eyes almost shut, mumbling something as if she couldn't believe that was real; but even though she was now focusing on the animals and wondering how it was possible they were there, she still noticed Sean beginning to take steps forwards and pulled him back by the shirt.</p><p>"Don't get too close by yourself, Sean! Don't think I forgot what you got yourself into yesterday!" she fumed with a raised finger.</p><p>"Yeah. There, there's a rock prominence right over there. Let's stay hide there until we can figure something out." Olive suggested.</p><p>The three of them tiptoed over to the rock and sat down with their backs against it; and  the fact that those birds were just a few meters behind them and they were protected only by the opacity of the rock was definitely not comforting, bringing them to lower their voices.</p><p>"Now, tell me... are you two <em>really</em> serious about this?" Marine asked with uncertainty in her voice.</p><p>"Of course we are! We came all the way here just for that, right?"</p><p>"I'll be serious... I thought that when we arrived, you were going to realize how dangerous this is, and give up in a moment of prudence."</p><p>"We're not here to be careful. Just the thought of this is already dangerous! There's nothing we can do to make it better." Olive argued.</p><p>"But are you really sure that exposing Sean to something like that is the best choice? Just... something's been happening to him. He's been having nightmares!"</p><p>"The nightmares have nothing to do with this. This will distract him from all that stuff."</p><p>"I think it'll just make him have <em>more</em> nightmares!"</p><p>Sean couldn't help but feel dispirited watching that argument. Everything had been perfectly fine until he told them about the nightmares; dreams that probably had no meaning. And if that hadn't been enough, there he was now, dragging them there just to fight even more over his safety.</p><p>An idea sprouted on his mind: if Sean managed to retrieve his tablet <em>himself</em>, the problems would be over! Olive would be proud of him for being so independent, and Marine wouldn't have to worry about his safety all the time. His mind was set. Giving the two Gems one last glance, Sean got up and ran to the other side of the rock without them noticing, and after breathing in and out, marched into the field of creatures.</p><p>Luckily for him, it seemed that the birds didn't remember him, as just like when he first arrived there with Olive the previous day, none reacted to his presence. That made him feel less wary and Sean allowed his body to relax; everything he needed to do now was find the one that had snatched his tablet from him and convince it to give it back. Last time it didn't go so well, but maybe he had just been a little too rude.</p><p>"Tablet, tablet... where is my tablet..." Sean started whispering to himself in a singsong tone. "Oh!" he yelped, maybe a little too loud, as soon as he caught the sight of it.</p><p>It was on the ground, and standing next to it was that same bird, slamming its beak against the screen (thank the stars it was made to be very durable), probably trying to activate it. Sean ran in that direction and came to an abrupt spot when the creature turned its head towards him.</p><p>"H-hey there! U-uh... I'm Sean!" he said, lifting his hand in a static wave. The bird looked unamused. "Are you, um, having problems with the tablet? Maybe I could help you with that!"</p><p>Sean started slowly approaching the tablet, and sat on the ground. After he placed his hand on the screen, the item obediently was turned on and the screen lit up.</p><p>"See?" Sean started again. "T-the thing is... this is m-my tablet. And I'd really appreciate if you could give it b-back to me... please?"</p><p>The bird just stared back at him. Sean sighed, and deciding to engage in a rather risky plan, grabbed the tablet and got up, beginning to quickly walk away; and when he heard a squawk coming from behind him, he just <em>ran</em>.</p><p>"Aaaah! I'm really, really sorry!" he shouted without daring to look back.</p><p>Before Sean could get to the safety of the rock where Marine and Olive were, he felt sharp claws clutching his shoulders, probably ripping his shirt with the force, and he let out desperate screams as he stopped feeling the ground under his feet.</p><p>"Sean?!" Marine screamed, running out from behind the rock with Olive by her side.</p><p>"What the... when did you get there?!" Olive shouted.</p><p>"Guys! Help! I got my tablet back, but I'm being hijacked by this giant biiiiird!" Sean replied, being taken higher and higher into the air.</p><p>Soon, he was too high up to even be able to see anything on the ground; the planet's sky had no clouds like he knew Earth did, but there was still wind, and it was <em>freezing. </em>As both his hands were occupied with the tablet, Sean couldn't even keep his dark wavy locks of hair from getting into his face.</p><p>"W-where are you t-taking me?" Sean asked in vain. "I mean, the view from up here is really pretty, b-but... I-I'd like to get down, if possible!"</p><p>No answer. Sean was starting to get really worried after many minutes of nothing happening, until a large rock structure appeared in his vision, in front of him; it was just as tall as the height they were flying and it seemed to have something on its top. Only when they were hovering right above it, Sean realized: it was a nest, and inside were about five baby birds! Even though they were only babies, they were a little larger than him; and all of them were jumping up and down, looking up with their beaks open.</p><p>"Ohhh! Baby birds, that's so adorable! Are they your children?"</p><p>This time, the only answer Sean got was the fact that the grip on his shoulders was loosening, and when he looked at how excitable the birds looked with their large open mouths, everything made sense. Just as he was about to fall inside one, Sean managed to change his course and ended up almost falling outside the nest, before he started holding on to its exterior, still with the tablet in hands.</p><p>"No! I-is this all about the t-tablet still? I-it's okay, I don't even want i-it that much anymore! Y-you can keep it!" he pleaded, legs kicking and trying to find something to touch, as the sweat over his hands made him start slipping. Even that didn't satisfy the bird, and it flew over to where he was, to grab him again. "I-I'm sure there's another w-way! W-we have lots of food b-back on the ship, you c-can use it to feed your babies!"</p><p>The animal wasn't about negotiation, and once again grasped him by his shoulders, which due to the rips, were almost bare, making Sean hiss in pain; he was once again raised above the baby birds, and as soon as he was released, he used his only free hand to grab the mother bird's leg, his other arm dangling with the tablet.</p><p>"No, I don't want this! I-I don't... help! Marine... Olive... please, help me!" Sean cried, his vision starting to become blurry from the tears as he felt himself becoming weaker and weaker with every passing moment.</p><p>Neither Marine nor Olive came, but someone had answered to his pleas, as just after he finished his sentence, he saw a figure jumping and landing right on the edge of the nest; blinking away the tears, Sean saw what it was. A very tall Gem, with a lean but muscular body and four arms; she possessed pure white skin and a pointy nose, two pairs of green eyes and long light blonde hair that went up to her knees and bisected in different directions by the end. Her entire outfit was a shining silver, characteristic to the Elementals.</p><p>Sean couldn't take his gaze off her, doing so only when he started falling and closed his eyes as he screamed, but instead of being met with tongues and teeth, his body was enveloped by a set of arms; Sean realized that he was being wrapped up by the Gem's two right arms, and both of them were now on the other side of the nest. She had her head turned back, at the now angrily-squawking bird, before turning back to him and giving him a warm smile.</p><p>"Marine...? Olive...?" Sean called out in a whisper, th loudest his voice would get in his astonishment.</p><p>"I guess you could say so," she spoke in a deep, but delicate voice. It was melodious to his ears and the comforting sound of the sentence made him smile. "The name's Chalcedony. Now hold on tight."</p><p>"Yes, ma'am! W-woooahhh!"</p><p>Chalcedony jumped to the side, avoiding a very close attack from the bird that would have ripped through them had they stayed on the same spot any longer; before the animal could turn back to attack the two again, she slid on the borders of the nest until they got back to the opposite side. Swiftly, she pulled out two swords from both her gems with her remaining two free hands and threw them alongside the tall structure they were standing on.</p><p>She continued to repeat this same procedure for many more minutes as she jumped, slid and dodged many attacks, all while keeping Sean against her body safely. When Chalcedony was finally done, she placed Sean down, before crouching in front of him and putting her hands over his shoulders.</p><p>"Sean, listen. I need you to use those swords as stairs and walk down as much as you can. Do you think you can do this for me?" she asked, her expression neutral.</p><p>"Yeah, d-don't worry! I'll do it right away! But what about you?"</p><p>"Don't worry about me, Sean. I'll be fine. Now, go." Chaceldony said with a chuckle, before getting back up.</p><p>Sean jumped out of the nest, stepping on one of the swords; its structure bounced with the ungraceful landing, but as soon as he recomposed himself, he started stepping down the swords, which were all placed like a spiral staircase alongside the tall structure. He was about to step forwards again when he realized that there were no more swords in front of him.</p><p>"Chaceldony! I-I think we've ran out of swords! What now--"</p><p>Chaceldony jumped out of the nest above him, seizing his body during the fall; as soon as Sean realized the two were literally free falling and he couldn't even bring his arms down, he started screeching.</p><p>"We're falling! We're going to hit the ground! But this place is too tall! What's going to happen to us!"</p><p>While not giving him a direct verbal answer, Chaceldony summoned another sword and thrusted it inside the rock structure, breaking it alongside a line as they fell, and in the end, making her land on the ground perfectly in her feet with no injuries. Sean also found himself fine, and was placed on the ground right by Chaceldony's side.</p><p>"So? What do you think about my debut?" the fusion joked, staring at him with a smile.</p><p>"It was... amazing! <em>You're</em> amazing! You're just... the perfect combination between Marine and Olive! You gave me an adventure full of action, but you kept me safe during everything! You're just... Marine and Olive getting through their differences for one single cause... to help me!"</p><p>"That's exactly what I am, that's right..." Chaceldony ruffled his hair, making Sean laugh. "I assume that after all this flying, you'd rather stay away from heights for some time... but would you like to get taller, Sean?"</p><p>"Get taller? Haha, what do you mean?" Chaceldony then grabbed Sean by his sides and placed him sitting over her shoulders as he laughed. "Wow, hahaha! This is great! Let's go back like this!"</p><p>"Whataver you say, master!"</p><p>After a while, they arrived where the ship was. The petalites didn't even question the sight in front of them after what they had seen before, and simply continued with their work. Chaceldony sat down against the back of the ship, putting Sean right by her side and both stared at the sky.</p><p>"Hey, look! Now that I have my tablet back, I can continue these questions! And I can also show Marine what I already finished so she can correct them later!" Sean remarked, pointing to the object.</p><p>"That's great. Hey, Sean, look at the sky!"</p><p>Instead of its usual lighter purple tone, the planet's sky now had a deeper color to it, making many stars visible. It was probably the most beautiful thing Sean had ever seen, alongside the cave full of glowing shells.</p><p>"Wow! That's awesome! But... why is it dark? Is it... night already?"</p><p>"I don't think so. Perhaps... it's just something that happens here in this planet."</p><p>"I love it... but do you know what I love even more? Being here with you!"</p><p>Chaceldony laughed at the boy's expression of affection and ruffled his hair once again.</p><p>And together, they stargazed for long hours.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yup, my favorite chapter is this one everyone.<br/>1 more chapter left boiiiisss!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The End</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sean says goodbye to this adventure.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I mean, if the first chapter was named "The Start"... of course I'm naming the last one "The End".<br/>Also, if you want to know what will happen now, read the end notes, all the details are there!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Aww, it's really sad that we already have to leave." Sean lamented as drew random lines on his tablet's screen.</p><p>"Seriously? Sean, we spent days here... I'm sure you miss the ship." Marine said while she started putting whatever was out of the suitcases back inside. "And not to mention, you got yourself in serious danger."</p><p>"C'mon, it wasn't that bad. We were there with him, and he was having fun." Olive corrected from the bench she was sitting.</p><p>Sean left his seat and crouced next to Marine's side, watching as she gently folded one of his countless identical gray shirts; but this one had something unique to it, its shoulders were all ripped and messy. It was the one he had been wearing during the latest "accident", when he was kidnapped by that giant bird.</p><p>"This shirt is ruined," Marine grumbled, before putting it on the top of all others. "We'll have to get rid of it when we get to the ship... ugh, that's one less shirt for you now..."</p><p>"It's okay, I have a lot of shirts, right? A-and also... i-if you wouldn't mind, I was hoping you'd let me k-keep it."</p><p>"Keep it? Look at it, it's torn... why would you want it?"</p><p>"Because, well... I do have lots of shirts, but they're all the same! Having a different one would be so cool! I like my shirts, but they can get boring sometimes... it's almost like I never change clothes." Sean explained with a smile. "I-I mean, I guess it's a little too shredded on the sleeves, but... w-we can fix that up too! Please, Marine?"</p><p>"Come on, Marine, you've got to say yes! Look at that face!" Olive laughed.</p><p>"<em>Fine</em>. But if this doesn't please the Commanders, I'm sorry, but you'll have to stop, Sean."</p><p>"Seriously, what do they have to do with what Sean wears? Does it change their lives somehow? They should just mind their own business."</p><p>"Yes, but the thing is that they believe that Sean <em>is</em> their business."</p><p>The thought of these words sent a shiver through Sean's body. It was true; even though the Elementals had all those safety procedures to make sure he grew healthy, they didn't really care about <em>him</em>. All they cared about was what he was: a Gem-human hybrid, with an unique physiology to both Gems and humans. A test subject. And they wanted to control everything that related to him, no matter how small it was.</p><p>"We can't know if we don't try, right?" he suggested with a beam, shrugging.</p><p>"Yeah, Sean's totally right." Olive agreed, making Marine give her a half-angry half-concerned look.</p><p>They couldn't continue their discussion, because Tiger and the petalites came inside the ship silently, with the last three carrying some jars. Looking closer, Sean noticed they contained the orange ground, gray crystals and brown water of the planet, and were taking those back to when they arrived on the ship.</p><p>"So, are you three ready, or do we have to wait more?" Pad asked, and despite the lack of politeness on her words, her tone didn't sound all that annoyed.</p><p>"We're all very ready, thank you very much. Do what you have to do." Olive responded, crossing her arms on the bench.</p><p>After a while, the ship finally started, and Sean ran to the window to watch. As they took off and got higher, the orange ground below got more and more distant, until it was no longer visible.</p><p>"Bye bye, orange planet... see you later. Or maybe not." he mumbled to himself.</p><p>All that he could see now was the cape of darkness that was the space, with tiny shining points that were the stars all around it. Noticing just how big it was, Sean couldn't help but wish he had all the time in the world to explore it in its entirety, if there even was an end to it. Gems could live forever as long as their gemstone was intact, but a human's lifespan was limited and could be cut short even more easily, sometimes even mysteriously, and if Sean was a mix between both, how long would he live?</p><p>Sean didn't remember even being exposed to the cold, hard truth of death, nor did he ever worry about it, but thinking about it now, maybe at one point he would, and he wondered how he would react. He would probably be very sad, even if whoever passed away wasn't close to him, but would he move on quickly and give all his attention to whoever was alive, or would he be one to spend years reliving everything?</p><p>Only questions sprouted on his mind, and no answers. Eventually, Sean just moved away from the window and sat back on a bench, right by Olive's side.</p><p>"So... we'll be spending more long hours here before arriving, right?" he sighed. </p><p>"Yes, but... you still have your tablet, don't forget that!" Marine exclaimed happily. "Also... I corrected all the questions you solved, and most of them were correct. But there are still a few more, so feel free to do those if you feel bored."</p><p>"Actually... I think I'm going to try and n-nap a bit, if that's okay."</p><p>For a split second, Sean saw Marine's smile waver down, but she recomposed it quickly and clapped with a chuckle.</p><p>"O-of course! Sleeping is... good to your health! Let me get your pajamas!" she said in a rushed tone, almost jumping out of her chair to reach for a suitcase.</p><p>"You don't need to, it's fine! Really, I... can sleep like this. It's okay." Sean reassured her, and Marine got back to her seat.</p><p>"If you say so... good sleeping time, Sean."</p><p>Sean nodded and leaned against the wall, also resting his head on Olive's shoulders before she ruffled his hair. He closed his eyes, making his vision even darker than the space outside, as there were no small lights there; but his mind was soon filled with many images, of arriving back on the ship and eating his first real meal in days, then immediately going to meet his father and tell him all about the many adventures he had during the trip. </p><p>After a while, Sean fell asleep, with a smile on his face.</p><hr/><p>He only woke up hours later, and sat himself on the bench properly before letting out a loud yawn and stretching his arms.</p><p>"Welcome back," Olive greeted him.</p><p>"Thanks..." Sean replied, with his voice still too sleepy, but smiling.</p><p>"Sean... how was your nap? Did you... sleep well?" Marine asked, clearly failing to sound casual. All of them knew exactly what she was referring to.</p><p>"It was great... no strange dreams or anything." Sean said truthfully.</p><p>Marine's tense body relaxed at the answer as she let out a sigh of relief, not even bothering to hide it anymore. Sean didn't know whether to feel reassured or scared at the disappearance of his dreams; during the trip, he had slept many times, and not all of those had resulted in visions about his Mother, but now that he <em>truly</em> knew what those dreams were, he had started feeling worried about everything.</p><p>This line of thoughts was becoming just like his earlier reflection about death and weirding him out, so Sean just got up and started walking around to brush away the thoughts. He didn't even realize he was walking in circles until Olive stared at him weirdly.</p><p>"Sean, what on the Universe are you doing?" she asked.</p><p>"He's exercising, obviously. It's not healthy to stay still for long, such as in a flight... it creates blood clots in humans, and it can be very harmful!" Marine stepped in, matter-of-factly.</p><p>"A-actually, I was just doing something to pass time..." Sean corrected.</p><p>At the response, Marine blushed and looked down, while Olive laughed. Tired, Sean decided to stop and just look around; Tiger was standing, leaned against a wall. Sean still wanted to talk to her, but Marine and Olive would probably stop him now, and there was still a bit of fear stopping him from approaching her just like that. When she opened her eyes and directed her gaze to him, Sean quickly looked away, at anything else, his face becoming red as a tomato, and just silently hoped she hadn't noticed he was staring.</p><p>To make himself look less suspicious, the boy approached the window again to see if he could spot something cool, like a planet or maybe even a shooting star; if he saw one, Sean would probably just spend the rest of the trip trying to figure out a good wish! In the end, he saw no planet or shooting star, but he gradually started noticing that the ship was losing its speed.</p><p>"H-hey, is it just me or... are we getting slower? Like... slower than usual?" he decided to ask.</p><p>"We're running out of fuel..." Pad said, followed by a sigh, and then waved her hand dismissively at Grassy, not even bothering to look at her. "You, uh... <em>Grassy</em>. Go refuel it."</p><p>"Why should I be the one to do this job? I'm the same as <em>you</em>, I'm not worse! Go do this job yourself." Grassy retorted, crossing her arms.</p><p>"You insolent pebble! You're not the same as me... you were created <em>yesterday</em>, you're probably not even a hundred years old!" Pad retorted, now turning to Grassy and angrily pointing at the back of the ship. "So I'm older, more experienced, and thus, more intelligent, and you'll do as I say! Go refuel the ship <em>now</em>!"</p><p>"What are you going to do? Force me to? In this case, you might as well be doing it yourself!"</p><p>"Shut your mouths, you two, I can't stand to listen to your idiotic chattering anymore! You could shatter each other for all I care, just go do it away from me!" Gold yelled back at them.</p><p>In a matter of seconds, the three of them were all screaming at each other at once, making it impossible to figure out what they were saying; perplexed by the sudden change of mood, Sean looked back at his caretakers with wide eyes. Marine had a hand covering her face in frustration, and Olive was rolling her eyes.</p><p>"Of course the petalites had to fight... I was surprised they hadn't fought <em>earlier</em>. All those days without any discussion may be the best record among all petalites." Olive remarked with a sigh.</p><p>As the discussion began getting louder and louder, Tiger left the spot she was standing at to go to the back. Sean looked back at the three. He did remember hearing that despite (or maybe even <em>because of</em>) their extreme intelligence and ingenuity, it was not uncommon for petalites to have constant fights against each other in some sort of competition. When they first emerged, they were barely knowledgeable about anything, but they were exceptionally curious and quick learners, which gave most, if not all of them, the conception that the older a petalite is, the more respect she deserves, which led the younger ones to suffer a lot of harrassment.</p><p>"Hey, guys, it's okay! Why does it matter who refuels the ship or not?" Sean asked, stepping close to them and giving them his best smile. In response to the question, all three glared at him; it seemed that, when it came to getting angry at him, all of them were in perfect sync.</p><p>"With all due respect, no offense, but... are you inane?" Pad asked him.</p><p>"I-I mean, I don't t-think so, but... Ametrine does call me dimwit sometimes..." Sean said quietly, blushing.</p><p>"Very well, I suppose that's not your fault... I can explain everything to you and demonstrate my far superior knowledge!" she replied, and even though her answer was directed at Sean, she was practically screaming it on Grassy's face, before assuming a calm stance with her eyes closed. "Ahem. Manual labor is... without doubt, the most brute and primitive kind of labor. All you need to do it is brawn, because it's so simple that almost anyone can do it! Meanwhile, other forms of work, such as piloting a ship, which is what I'm doing, requires a whole new other kind of skill... intelligence. And that's why she should just accept her intellectual inferiority compared to me and go do her work already."</p><p>"I... don't think that makes a lot of sense. I mean... refueling the ship right now, which is manual labor, is completely essential to our trip. If everybody keeps refusing to do it, then... we'll just be stuck here in the middle of space forever!" Sean said, spreading his arms to give emphasis to the last part. "I don't think it makes sense to put a certain kind of work as 'inferior'... everything is important, or else it wouldn't exist, right? I mean... according to this logic, the Commanders would be on top of everything. But if there was nobody to work for them... there would be nothing. So they're not superior, and we aren't inferior... all of us are great and have the same potential!"</p><p>Pad stared at him, dumbfounded, for a few moments, trying to come up with a counterargument in vain.</p><p>"I... guess it does make sense, from that angle..." She put her fingers on her chin to think. "I never stopped to think that... damaging a field ca affect another field... if there was nobody to refuel the ships, there would be nobody to pilot the ships... e-everything is connected..."</p><p>Panic started rising on the faces of Pad, Gold and even Grassy, who was arguably the victim of that situation. </p><p>"It's not supposed to make sense, but... it actually does!" Gold intervened, agitated. "How could I never think of this? It's so simple, yet... so logical! I... feel so idiotic right now... what's this, am I defective?!"</p><p>"No! You're not defective... there is no such thing as 'defective', because there's no right way to exist!" Sean told them trying his best to calm down the frightened Gems. "It makes sense that you never thought of this... I-I mean, for your entires lives, y-you... were fed the knowledge that some Gems are born better or worse than others. And in your position... you just wanted to be better. So I guess you guys started creating positions <em>inside</em> your position... just so that for once, you could feel like you were better than someone, to make up for the fact that you believed you were worse."</p><p>As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that all of them were staring at him wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Sean just let out an awkward giggle, and then suddenly, they bowed towards him.</p><p>"H-hey, you guys, d-don't--"</p><p>His request probably made it worse, as instead of stopping, the petalites kneeled on the floor before him, their hands touching the floor and their heads down.</p><p>"You, Sean, are clearly a being gifted of a far superior intelligence than all of us!" Gold cried.</p><p>"We swear we'll listen, respect and accept everything you ask out of us!" Grassy followed.</p><p>"I profoundly apologize for calling you inane! I'm the truly inane one!" Pad screamed, lifting her face to reveal tears on her eyes. </p><p>"Guys, please... g-get up." They obeyed his request at the blink of an eye. "It's just like I said... I'm not better or worse than any of you. So, please... don't treat me like I'm your master or anything. I don't want to control you... I just want you to be free. Nobody deserves to be treated like a servant." Sean glanced at Marine for a moment.</p><p>"You are absolutely right! We apologize for our mistake!" </p><p>"It's alright, don't worry! But now, uh... I guess we still need to refuel the ship, right?" Sean said chuckling.</p><p>"After all this, it's only fitting that I should be the one to go, to show that I have evolved and turned into a humble Gem... and to make up for how I was acting earlier." Pad proposed.</p><p>"You don't need to. After all that Sean told us, I don't see this job as an insult anymore, and I want to do it, so I'll go!" Grassy intervened.</p><p>"You two, enough... it's time for you to stop fighting about this. I'm going to do it... after all, I'm not even doing anything important!" Gold said.</p><p>"W-we don't need to choose just one of you! All of us can go!" Sean shouted before they started fighting all over again, and thankfully, all of them seemed satisfied by this. "Alright... lead the way."</p><p>The three complied and started walking to the back of the ship, with Sean following behind them; in his way, he locked eyes with Marine and Olive's weirded out gazes and just gave them an awkward smile and a shrug. As soon as the three arrived on the wall of the ship's back, Pad tapped it, revealing squares lighting up on the places she touched, and then a door opened.</p><p>"Wow! I had no idea there was actually something back here... but I did find it weird that the outside of the ship looks bigger than the inside! There was a hidden room here all along!" Sean said. "But why doesn't it have just a hand detector like all the rest?"</p><p>"Well, the purpose of hand detectors is to make sure nobody who isn't a member of the Elementals comes inside, for safety measures. But not all Elementals should have acess to certain facilities all the time." Pad explained as she entered the room. "We have the password because this is essential to our mission. However, as soon as we get back, the code will change and be disclosured to the next Gems who will be using this only."</p><p>"That makes sense... they really think about everything. And having to manage so much of this stuff... no wonder the Commanders and Administrators are always stressed... they should take a break sometimes."</p><p>When Sean went inside the room, he realized that despite not being really small, it was quite cramped for all four of them due to a machine-like object on the center of the room; as they went around it, Sean noticed a hole on it, and realized it looked a lot like a furnace, even being linked to the ceiling. At first he had thought it was just because of how close they were, but Sean's body quickly became full of sweat; the room was <em>scalding</em>.</p><p>"W-woah, i-is it a little hot in here or is it just m-me?" he chuckled it off, wiping sweat of his forehead. "E-either way, I think we should do this fast... it's a little cramped here..."</p><p>"Hm, must be something of your human side speaking up. But you're right, this place is not comfortable, so let's do this." Gold said, walking to the left side of the room, where here were some square-shaped cans.</p><p>"Is that where the fuel is?"</p><p>"Yes. We just need to open it and throw it all on the tank."</p><p>Gold grabbed the sides of the can with both hands and started trying to lift it up, managing not much other than moving it a few centimeters as she grunted. The other two came to join her soon, but had no success either.</p><p>"Okay, let me try and help you guys!" Sean said as he walked next to them and crouched near the can.</p><p>Sean had to bit his lip to keep himself from crying out the moment his skin touched the can. It was the hottest thing he had ever come in contact with his whole life, and he couldn't even imagine anything hotter than that; it was as if his hands were being <em>cooked</em>. As if his life depended on it, the boy used all his strength to lift the can and just tossed everything inside the furnace-tank's hole, even the can itself.</p><p>"Great job! The can wasn't supposed to go in there, but it works!" Grassy clapped.</p><p>"T-thank you... a-ah, is... w-was it meant to be t-this hot?" Sean choked out with a broken voice and tears on his eyes, hands still aching with pain. He couldn't see it because of the lighting, but he was sure that they were both red with burns.</p><p>"Yes, well... it must be kept in a place of a high temperature to keep it from freezing. I guess that your body being organic must make it worse for you..."</p><p>"Y-yeah... so now, c-can we please get out? I-I think that if I stay here for f-five more minutes, I-I'll pass out, and m-my vision is starting to g-get blurry... or are those just hallucinations?"</p><p>"In this case, we must leave immediately! Come on!"</p><p>The petalites ended up almost having to drag Sean out of the room, and he breathed in relief once he was out. Marine quickly came and picked him up.</p><p>"Thanks... I guess. I'll take care of him now." she said, and Sean caught a glimpse of the petalites nodding before they went back to the cockpit of the ship.</p><p>Marine took him back to the bench, and Sean closed his eyes, smiling.</p><p>He couldn't wait for his next adventures, however they were.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Part 2 of Sean's Story is done, yay! There will be more stories after this one, of course.<br/>I have all the main plot of the next story in mind, now all I need to do is properly organize it with details, which will take me just a couple days, and once I'm done, I'll start writing the first chapter :)<br/>I won't spoil anything, but... in this next story, Sean will be 16 years old (they grow so fast...), and that's where the real a n g s t comes in as he learns more about everything around him. That's all I'm saying!<br/>See you next time :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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